Effect of sward age on nitrate accumulation in ryegrass.

Two indoor trials were done with Italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum) and perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne) to obtain more information about the nitrate-accumulating process of a new-sown grass sward. With an abundant NO3 supply for Italian ryegrass, NO3 accumulation in herbage decreased during 5 successive cuts after sowing, because of increasing NO3 conversion. In the same way the NO3 content in DM in perennial ryegrass was more in the first cut after sowing than in old plants from a pasture 5 years old. After sowing, a considerable part of the assimilate produced was used for stubble and root growth. With older swards these assimilates were increasingly retained in herbage, which is rich in organic N and to a lesser extent in stubble and roots, which are poor in organic N. Because of this, NO3 conversion is restricted in a new-sown grass sward and reaches a maximum in old sward of a permanent pasture, which almost exclusively produces herbage. Consequently nitrate is more apt to accumulate in new-sown grass than in old pasture. (Abstract retrieved from CAB Abstracts by CABI’s permission)