COMPARISON ASSESSMENT OF FODDER PRODUCTIVITY OF SINGLE-SPECIES AND MIXED GRASS PASTURES IN THE KARELIA’S CONDITIONS

Abstract

The article presents the results of the productivity of single-species and three-component agrocenoses (eastern goat's rue, red clover, variable alfalfa, meadow timothy grass, awnless brome) on two backgrounds of nutrition — natural fertility and a single spring application of mineral fertilizers at a dose of N₄₅P₆₀K₉₀. The use of fertilizers contributed to an increase in the yield of the studied herbage. On average, over three years, the highest yield of dry matter was obtained from red clover (7.8 t/ha), which is 1.2…1.9 times higher compared to the introduced species of legumes. In cereal grasses, this indicator (4.5…6.5 t/ha) was inferior to legumes and slightly differed over the years. Mixed agrophytocenoses were characterized by a relatively stable yield of dry fodder mass (average 7.8...9.0 t/ha). The highest productivity per hectare (up to 7.98 thousand fodder units, 90.8 GJ of metabolizable energy and 1.34 tons of crude protein) was obtained in a single-species grass stand of red clover and a three-component herbage —alfalfa + clover + timothy grass.