Ryegrass cultivation

Ryegrass(chaff) is one of the main components of grass mixtures in the establishment of long-term and short-term forage lands.

In lowland meadows in forest-steppe, steppe and mountainous areas, cereal grasses dominate, which make up 60-70% of the total herbage. Perennial cereal grasses have high feeding value and produce high yields of hay and pasture forage. Among them, chaff (ryegrass), a perennial and multi-flowered crop, is of great interest.
One of the most common grasslands in cultivated pastures is perennial ryegrass (or perennial ryegrass, English ryegrass). It develops quickly against other such crops and already in the year of sowing forms a good sod with many vegetative and generative shoots. Due to its high yield and feed value, ryegrass quickly spread throughout the European continent. It is one of the main components of grass mixtures for establishing long-term and short-term pastures.
The high foliage of perennial ryegrass provides good forage productivity. 100 kg of hay contains 55.2 k.e. and 4.4 kg of digestible protein. There is 7.9 g of calcium in 1 kg of dry matter, and this cereal is 2-3 times higher in sodium content than other types of herbs. Leaves of vegetative shoots contain large number sucrose, much more than generative leaves.
Multi-flowered ryegrass (chaff) is an unpretentious forage crop that is usually grown in the same field with or leguminous plants. This is done in order to reduce the cost of purchasing seeds, as well as to prepare a plentiful and high-quality hay harvest. The advantage of the plant is that young shoots germinate early spring, when the soil temperature barely reaches 1 °C, which is very important for northern regions with short summers. Frost-resistant varieties contain a large amount of nutrients, increasing their nutritional value in livestock farming. The economic benefits of growing grass are achieved due to abundant seedlings, the ability to make several slopes per season and the endurance of the growth even in the most unfavorable weather conditions.

Nuances of technology
Ryegrass in the generative phase is very sensitive to environmental factors, especially heat, moisture and light. That's why best predecessors Under ryegrass are winter grains, spring grains and row crops.
The main tillage is carried out using the semi-plow type. In weedy areas, continuous application should be made after vegetative ones. Ryegrass requires high-quality soil preparation before sowing. In the pre-sowing tillage system, moisture is sealed off and the soil surface is necessarily leveled and compacted. This creates a fine-lumpy soil structure and helps retain moisture and create a compacted layer at the seeding depth, which is an important condition obtaining friendly shoots. To do this, you should use combined units that perform all soil preparation operations in one pass.
For the main treatment, phosphorus-potassium fertilizers are applied in a dose of 45-60 kg of a.m. Nitrogen fertilizers are applied fractionally in the spring, depending on the purpose of cultivation: for green mass - N 60 during the growing season; N 30 - during trumpeting and N 15 - during flowering; for seeds - N 60 when restoring the growing season and N 30 when booting.
Before sowing, seeds are treated with a preparation containing the active ingredient Benomyl (500 g/kg) to protect against diseases and improve germination energy. Sowing is carried out in the spring - mainly under the cover of vetch - oatmeal and other mixtures of green fodder or in the summer. For spring grain crops, ryegrass is sown simultaneously or no later than 7 days after sowing the cover crop. The seeding rate of the cover crop is reduced by 25%. Summer sowing is carried out from mid-June to mid-August, say until September 1. They sow with precision seeders; they also use vegetable and grass seeders.
For growing ryegrass for seeds in conditions of sufficient moisture, the optimal seeding rate is 14 kg/ha. The best way sowing - alternate rows, with row spacing 30 cm wide.
To grow ryegrass for green mass, you should follow the row sowing method with a row spacing of 15 cm and a seeding rate of 16-18 kg/ha. For laying pastures - up to 20 kg/ha.
Caring for crops involves carrying out a set of measures to protect against weeds, pests, diseases and creating optimal water-air and nutritional regimes for ryegrass. In the first year of the growing season, care consists of spraying the cover crop against weeds with recommended preparations during its tillering phase, as well as timely collection of the cover crop and its nutrient residues. After harvesting the cover crop, for a good overwintering of the grass crops, they must be fed in the fall with phosphorus-potassium fertilizers at the rate of P 45 K 45 a.i.
To control weeds on ryegrass seeds, herbicides approved for grain crops are used.
Ryegrass seeds are collected from the first cutting, mainly by direct combining, with a threshing drum rotation speed of 150-800 rpm. The duration of use of ryegrass crops, depending on the purpose of cultivation, is: for seeds - 2-3 years, for pastures and hayfields - up to 6 -8 years.

Grass collection and density
The harvest and especially the nutritional value of the feed largely depend on the timely mowing and harvesting of perennial grasses. The decrease in protein content in plants is due to the fact that during the aging process, intensive formation of fiber occurs in them. And although in cereal grasses the decrease in protein content according to the phases of plant development does not occur as intensely as in legumes, they also need to be collected on time.
For livestock farming, it is essential to organize a long period of supply of green mass and feeding it to animals in summer period. An important indicator in grass sowing is its density, since the yield of green mass depends mainly on the density and height of the grass stand.
The density of the grass stand is determined, first of all, by the intensity of shoot formation, due to which plants form a more developed root system and use it more fully. nutrients soil, accumulates vegetative mass. The nature of the influence of species in agrocenoses also depends on the density of the grass stand.
Two periods of intensive shoot formation have been established: spring - after the resumption of the growing season, and summer-autumn - from the second half of summer until the end of the growing season. For most types highest value has summer-autumn formation of pagons. The absence of intensive formation of pagons during the heading and flowering phase of cereal perennial grasses is explained by the fact that the formation of generative shoots occurs with a large expenditure of energy resources, nitrogen and other elements of mineral nutrition.
The green mass of cereals is collected during the heading period, but not later than their flowering, since later the cereal tubes become coarser, the protein content in them decreases and the nutritional value decreases. Defining effective deadlines cleaning, the logical features of plants should also be taken into account. Not all types and varieties of grass produce high yields in the second and subsequent slopes. Therefore, when mowing early, a significant amount of feed can be missed in the first slope. You should choose a mowing period that, in addition to a high yield of vegetative mass, would ensure the maximum collection of feed units and digestible protein per unit area.
To grow ryegrass for seeds, you should remember that during ripening it easily crumbles, so this process must be constantly monitored. If, after squeezing the panicle, there are ripe seeds in the palm of your hand, it is time to harvest.

Post-harvest seed treatment
The heap coming from the combine must be immediately cleaned using wind machines. After this, drying is carried out in the sun or in floor dryers. Shaft and drum dryers are not very suitable, since the seeds form lumps and can catch fire. Drying mode: 30 min. blow with unheated air, then for one hour - heated to 40 °C. They do this several times and bring the humidity up to 14%.
The final cleaning of the seeds is carried out using the Pectus-Giant (K-531) and Pectus-Selectra (K-218) machines. Seeds are stored in bags.

The plant is up to 70 cm high (usually from 15 to 50 cm). Perennial ryegrass has both vegetative and generative shoots.

Perennial ryegrass is widely used in agriculture as a valuable forage and pasture plant, as well as lawn grass.

Perennial ryegrass is valued for its ability to form dense grass within a month and a half after sowing the seeds and for its high resistance to trampling.

Application. Perennial ryegrass is included in many grass mixtures for the common lawn. Perennial ryegrass can already form a thick, beautiful carpet of grass in the first year of its life, a month after planting. After mowing, it grows back quickly and evenly, remaining green until frost.

Perennial ryegrass is very resistant to trampling and independently fills bald spots in the lawn. However, when shading this property is lost. Perennial ryegrass is a grass that is ideal for meadows, sports and ordinary lawns.

Perennial ryegrass is considered one of the best views lawn grass after fescue, meadow grass and some types of bent grass.

Root. The root system is powerful.

Stems smooth, and the leaves are bare and smooth, up to 4 mm wide.

Inflorescence- a single spike located at the top of the shoot, up to 15 cm long. The spike consists of spikelets, their length is from 7 to 15 mm, they have from 4 to 10 flowers. Flowering time is usually from June to September.

Fetus- grain. Fruiting time is usually from July to October.

Seeds have a lanceolate shape, greenish-gray color, length 5.5-6.5 mm, width 1-1.5 mm, average weight of a thousand seeds is 2.2 grams, one kg contains 465 thousand seeds.

Growing conditions. Perennial ryegrass can grow in heavy soils and grows quickly. It tolerates moderate shade, trampling and soil compaction. Powerful root system promotes good regrowth and rapid recovery from mechanical damage. But it does not tolerate highly acidic soils. It loves moisture, but does not tolerate constant waterlogging. Sensitive to winter frosts and late spring frosts. In frosty, snowless winters it often freezes, and then bald spots form on the lawn, which perennial ryegrass eliminates on its own.

Sowing. I will propagate perennial ryegrass by seeds, sowing them from May to August. Its shoots usually appear on the 5th - 13th day, depending on the time of sowing and weather conditions.

Perennial ryegrass can form a beautiful thick grass carpet already in the first year of life. After mowing, it grows quickly and evenly and remains decorative until frost.

Care. Perennial ryegrass is very moisture-loving, so in summer it needs to be watered often and fed generously. For feeding I will use biocompost and vermicha solutions. This will compensate for the rapid growth rate.

Cleaning. As it grows, I will mow the perennial ryegrass with a lawn mower or rider, and use the resulting mulch to prepare.

Obtaining seeds I will carry out this from areas of the lawn that have not been mowed until the seeds ripen. I will use a hand scythe and shake out the seeds onto a piece of plastic film measuring 3*3 meters.

The following varieties of perennial ryegrass are popular in Russia: Danilo, Jessica, Capri, Cleopatra, Margarita, Ponderosa, Sherwood, Esquire.

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Pasture ryegrass, also known as English ryegrass and perennial Chaff, is herbaceous plant, belonging to the flowering genus Tares, which, in turn, belong to the family of Cereals.

This herbaceous perennial plant lives in Europe, North Africa and Western Asia. Sometimes, oddly enough, perennial ryegrass can be found in regions of East Asia, up to Western Siberia.

Description of the plant

Perennial ryegrass, or, as it is popularly called, perennial ryegrass, is one of the best and most unique spring-type pasture grasses. Very often, English ryegrass is mixed with annual legumes, and until flowering, the grass is readily eaten by various farm animals.

Perennial ryegrass differs from its other relatives in its rather high nutritional value: 100 kilograms of grass corresponds to approximately 23 feed units, while hay corresponds to 60 feed units.

Perennial ryegrass is kept in grass on various hayfields for 4 to 6 years, and can live on pastures for up to 12 years. Until the fourth year from sowing it reaches its apogee in development. It withstands frequent mowing and trampling, and also recovers very quickly from all kinds of mechanical damage.

Preference is given to rich, well-drained and loamy soils. In turn, it grows poorly in soils that are highly acidic.

Also, perennial ryegrass forms short and numerous shoots with shiny and delicate green leaves, forming an excellent carpet lawn high quality. It has a well-developed root system and therefore this plant is one of the fastest-rooting grasses for the lawn.

This grass is a mesophyte. Thus, it cannot withstand excess moisture, but is not a drought-resistant plant.

English ryegrass is also used to stabilize various types of eroded soils.

One of the most important positive traits perennial ryegrass is its highest yield. It is perennial ryegrass that brings huge amount grass that is used for animal feed. The quality of ryegrass for long life is very convenient, since on average the life expectancy is 5-6 years.

The uniqueness of the productivity of perennial ryegrass directly depends on the life expectancy of one plant. We already know that this subspecies of this type of ryegrass is both an excellent fertilizer and treatment of the soil on which, in fact, the plant grows. This is precisely the prerequisite for the fact that the harvest depends not so much on the conditions, but on the species itself, which contributes to fertilizing and improving the soil in the field of productivity.

Speaking in digital terms, perennial ryegrass produces about 400 centners of green mass per hectare. In addition, it produces about 90-100 centners of hay per hectare, which is also a high indicator of plant productivity. And the quintessence of the entire development process and the apogee of productivity growth every year for ryegrass is the total amount of seeds. So, in the first year after sowing there are about four centners per hectare, and after the second and third years - about six centners per hectare of soil.

Advantages:

In addition to high productivity, perennial ryegrass has many other positive aspects:

• - high nutritional value and very high speed of regrowth after mowing;
• - goes very well with other types of herbs (especially clover);
• - is a soil fertilizer and its medicine, as it prevents erosion;
• - rapid timing of total ripening; in the second year after the first sowing, ryegrass reaches its apogee in development.

Perennial ryegrass has no obvious and significant disadvantages. The only minor unpleasant aspects of the plant’s development include its lack of drought tolerance. Also, the plant cannot withstand excess moisture during its ripening period and may slow down its development in the near future.

Sowing

Depending on the type of sowing, there are certain fluctuations in seeding rates. Thus, seeding rates in pure crops per 1 hectare will be 12-14 kg. The second type of sowing would be to sow perennial ryegrass along with other grasses. In this case, the seeding rate per 1 hectare will range from 8 to 10 kg.

Based on the above seeding rates, in a normal average climate, in which there is no excess moisture and various droughts, a positive result can be expected.

It is natural that humans cannot control the temperature at which perennial ryegrass will grow. And yet a person can influence the conditions of plant development in a certain way. The optimal temperature for seed germination is from +2 degrees C to -4 degrees. The effect on temperature is explained by the ability of a person to regularly water the plant.

The depth of seeding of perennial ryegrass seeds is quite small and equals 2-3 cm. It is precisely because of the nature of ryegrass itself, and this is a mesophytic plant, that large amounts of moisture cannot be allowed to enter, and also, the soil on which the grass grows should not be allowed to dry out.

Features of cultivation

Although perennial ryegrass is not picky, it requires certain conditions for life and development. A lot depends on the sowing method, since when sowing ryegrass with other herbaceous green plants, you need to adhere to uniformity, but at the same time, a separate partial approach to the cultivation, growth and development of plants that are planted on the same soil.

After winter is just the right time to sow perennial ryegrass, since the soil is sufficiently moist, there is no drought and the soil has been “renewed” with the retreat of snow and frost.

Perennial ryegrass, also called English ryegrass and perennial ryegrass, is a flowering herbaceous plant belonging to the grass family. This is what we will discuss in our article.

Spreading

The original range of this biennial or perennial plant covered all of Europe (with the exception of the Arctic), Western Asia, North Africa and more eastern Asian regions (up to the Himalayas), including the southern regions of Western Siberia. Gradually, perennial ryegrass, as an introduced or alien grass, has widely spread throughout all extratropical zones of the planet, which is due to its active cultivation. The plant is found in meadows, fields, forest clearings, populated areas, near the roads.

Perennial ryegrass: description

This plant with a powerful root system has a height of up to seventy centimeters (usually from fifteen centimeters to half a meter). Perennial ryegrass has both vegetative and generative shoots, which is how it differs from other types of chaff, which are characterized only by generative shoots.

The stems of the plant are smooth, the leaves are bright green, long and thin, up to thirty centimeters in size, shiny below, rough along the veins. At the base of the plate there are short, sometimes indistinct ears. Tongue with solid edge, short.

The inflorescence looks like a slightly drooping straight loose spike of brownish-green color. The spikelets, which have from five to twelve flowers, are attached to the spike shaft individually with their narrow side. Each of them has one glume. The lower lemma is awnless. The spikelet is longer than the adjacent flower stem.

Perennial ryegrass seeds are 5.5-6.5 millimeters long and 1-1.5 millimeters wide, lanceolate, grayish in color, slightly concave on the inside. The rod is flattened, expanding upward.

Features of growth

Perennial ryegrass, photos of which are presented in the article, is a moisture-loving plant that does not tolerate drought. It is responsive to irrigation, but cannot withstand close groundwater and long-term flooding.

Spring hardiness and winter hardiness are low. Perennial ryegrass is well adapted to the conditions of a humid temperate climate, which is characterized by mild winters. It cannot tolerate winter without snow, and old grass stands are more prone to freezing. One of the reasons for the plant’s poor winter hardiness lies in the shallow location of the tillering node from the surface of the soil (eight to thirteen millimeters). This feature must be taken into account during selection.

Perennial ryegrass belongs to the plants of the winter mid-season development type; it grows quickly in the year of sowing, however, as a rule, it does not form generative stems, although they sometimes still form in some populations. It bears fruit in the second year of life, and if the grass stand is preserved, in the third.

The plant feels good on fertile loamy, moderately moist, sandy and clay soils. It grows poorly on dry podzolized sandy loams and acidic soils. Capable of producing a high yield of dry matter under favorable conditions. Perennial ryegrass is distinguished by good mortality, high shoot-forming ability, and pasture resistance. This is one of the most valuable cereals, judging by its nutritional merits.

Bloom

Depending on the cultivation zone and conditions, it blooms in the second year of the growing season, in warm weather, usually in the second half of June and early July. The plant is pollinated by the wind. When self-pollinating, it can produce a large number of seeds. In the forest-steppe zone, seeds ripen, depending on the conditions of the year, on July 10-25, and in the forest zone - from July 10-15 to August 5.

Productivity

Perennial ryegrass is characterized by short longevity. In the second or third year of life, the plant produces the highest yields, after which productivity decreases sharply. On pastures it can persist in grass for three to four years.

Ryegrass is affected by several fungal diseases: spot, rust, powdery mildew.

Weak winter hardiness, short longevity, and low disease resistance in a number of areas hinder the widespread use of such a valuable grassland grass. Its growth is especially difficult in areas with a continental climate.

Usage

Perhaps the main advantage of this cereal grass is its amazing ability to form a very beautiful thick grass stand just a month after sowing. Perennial ryegrass is widely used in agriculture throughout the world as a valuable forage (pasture) plant. It is also used for decorative purposes due to its bright green color. Ryegrass is added to all types of lawn grass mixtures for coverings for both sports and decorative purposes.

After mowing, the plant grows evenly and quickly, while maintaining decorative look until the end of autumn and leaving green under the snow. The grass used as a forage crop is characterized by fairly high digestibility; it contains a lot of soluble sugars, so it ensiles well without adding preservatives. Perennial ryegrass and clover form a very successful grass mixture that fully satisfies the protein needs of livestock. Another advantage of the plant is its rapid tillering, which makes it possible to start grazing on its grass stand early.

Perennial ryegrass(perennial chaff) (Lolium perenne) is a perennial, fast-growing, semi-mountainous, loose-bush grass with numerous short above-ground shoots and many leaves, concentrated mainly in the lower part of the stem.

Requires irrigation in dry years

Shoots appear on the 5-13th day, depending on the time of sowing and climatic zone.
In the first year of life, soon after spring sowing, it usually forms a continuous and dense grass cover. However, already in the 2nd or 3rd year the grass stand is thinned out, shoots of perennial ryegrass are distributed over the soil surface only in the form of individual rosettes.

Forms a weak, brittle turf.

In the spring it begins to grow early - in Moscow in the 3rd ten days of April. With autumn sowings, the following year goes through all phases of development. The study of shoot formation processes showed that in Moscow conditions this plant intensively forms new shoots only in the 1st year of the growing season, mainly in spring. From the 2nd year of growing season, the processes of shoot death increase significantly. In tillering shoots of higher orders there is a sharply expressed decrease in the intensity of vegetative regeneration.

Winter hardiness of perennial ryegrass is low. Ryegrass does not tolerate late autumn frosts and spring frosts with the formation of an ice crust.

In Moscow, in the first winter, more than half of perennial ryegrass freezes out, and in some years up to 90%.

Source of information:
(Academy of Sciences of the USSR. Council of Botanical Gardens of the USSR. Main Botanical Garden. LAWNS. Publishing house "Science". Moscow 1977)

Perennial ryegrass highly appreciated. It grows well even with frequent mowing; it grows quickly, but requires abundant fertilization. When sown in grass mixtures with slow-growing grasses such as meadow bluegrass, it suppresses them.

The resistance of ryegrass to trampling is average. Does not tolerate shading well. Under these conditions, shoot formation almost stops, and generative shoots are practically absent.