Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-lnqnp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T08:14:15.476Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The effects of a wide range of nitrogen rates on some chemical constituents of the herbage from perennial ryegrass swards with and without white clover

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

D. Reid  and
N. H. Strachan
D. Reid
Affiliation:
The Hannah Research Institute, Ayr KA6 5HL
N. H. Strachan
Affiliation:
The Hannah Research Institute, Ayr KA6 5HL
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Selected herbage samples from a 6-year experiment in which nitrogen rates between 0 and 897 kg/ha were applied annually on perennial ryegrass swards were analysed for nitrate-nitrogen, true-protein and non-protein nitrogen, water-soluble carbohydrate, potassium and sodium content and for amino acid composition. The nitrate-nitrogen content of the herbage increased with increasing nitrogen rate from 224 kg/ha upwards, but the potentially toxic level of 220 mg/100 g dry matter was not reached until the annual nitrogen rate was about 560 kg/ha. On average, at the 897 kg nitrogen/ha rate the non-protein nitrogen content had increased to 27·5% of the total nitrogen yield, and 40·3% of the non-protein nitrogen yield consisted of nitrate nitrogen. Nitrate content was shown to be a sensitive indicator of the level of nitrogen nutrition of the herbage, the optimum nitrogen rate for dry-matter production coinciding with a nitrate-nitrogen content of approximately 100 mg/100g dry matter. The amino acid composition of the herbage varied little with either the rate of nitrogen or the date of cutting. It was demonstrated that, on average, a 1% unit increase in the crude-protein content of the herbage was accompanied by a 1% unit decrease in the carbohydrate content. The sodium content of the herbage increased with increasing nitrogen rate up to between 448 and 560 kg/ha, but the potassium content showed little variation.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Agricultural Science , Volume 83 , Issue 3 , December 1974 , pp. 393 - 401
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1974

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Association of Official Agricultural Chemists (1965). Official Methods of Analysis, 10th ed.Washington.Google Scholar
Burg, P. F. J. Van (1966). Nitrate as an indicator of the nitrogen-nutrition status of grass. Proceedings of the 10th International Grassland Congress, pp. 267–72.Google Scholar
Ferguson, W. S. & Terry, R. A. (1957). The effect of nitrogenous fertilizers on the non-protein nitrogenous fraction of grassland herbage. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 48, 149–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fox, J. B. & Brown, S. M. (1969). The effect of fertilizer nitrogen on silage fermentation. Journal of the British Grassland Society 24, 23–4.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gately, T. F., Ryan, M. & Doyle, L. (1972). Effect of nitrogen on the yield, total-N and nitrate-N content of herbage over the growing season. Irish Journal of Agricultural Research 11, 63–75.Google Scholar
Griffith, G. Ap (1960). The nitrate-nitrogen content of herbage. II. Effect of different levels of application of sulphate of ammonia on the nitrate content of herbage. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture 11, 626–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Griffith, G. Ap & Walters, R. J. K. (1966). The sodium and potassium content of some grass genera, species and varieties. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 67, 81–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jones, D. I. H., Griffith, G. Ap & Walters, R. J. K. (1965). The effect of nitrogen fertilizers on the watersoluble carbohydrate content of grasses. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 64, 323–8.Google Scholar
Nowakowski, T. Z., Cunningham, R. K. & Nielsen, K. F. (1965). Nitrogen fractions and soluble carbohydrates in Italian ryegrass. I. Effects of soil temperature, form and level of nitrogen. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture 16, 124–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reid, D. (1966). The response of herbage yields and quality to a wide range of nitrogen application rates. Proceedings of the 10th International Grassland Congress, pp. 209–11.Google Scholar
Reid, D. (1970). The effects of a wide range of nitrogen application rates on the yields from a perennial ryegrass sward with and without white clover. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 74, 227–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reid, D. (1972). The effects of the long-term application of a wide range of nitrogen rates on the yields from perennial ryegrass swards with and without white clover. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 79, 291–301.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Spackman, D. H., Stein, W. H. & Moore, S. (1958). Automatic recording apparatus for use in the chromatography of amino acids. Analytical Chemistry 30, 1190–206.Google Scholar
Waite, R. (1958). The water-soluble carbohydrates of grasses. IV. The effect of different levels of fertilizer treatment. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture 9, 39–43.Google Scholar
Wilson, R. F. & Tilley, J. M. A. (1965). Amino-acid composition of lucerne and of lucerne and grass protein preparations. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture 16, 173–8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wright, M. J. & Davidson, K. L. (1964). Nitrate accumulation in crops and nitrate poisoning in animals. Advances in Agronomy 16, 197–247.Google Scholar
Yemm, E. W. & Willis, A. J. (1954). The estimation of carbohydrates in plant extracts by anthrone. Biochemical Journal 57, 508–14.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed