B.Ag.Sci. Honours (2013)
Dry matter production and water use of lucerne and perennial ryegrass under dryland conditions (PDF 5.1 MB)
Research Overview
This experiment quantified water extraction by lucerne and perennial ryegrass monocultures under four different irrigation regimes. These were: no irrigation, irrigation weekly, twice weekly or three times weekly. Yield, soil moisture and canopy temperatures were measured. Kate found a mid-winter spray of glyphosate severely checked the dryland lucerne but in all the irrigation treatments the lucerne yield was similar or higher than the perennial ryegrass which had received 500 kg N/ha. The project was supervised by Prof. Derrick Moot and Dr Edmar Teixeira (Plant & Food Research, Lincoln).