Effect of the seeding rate on forage yield and quality of triticale

Studies on triticale as a cereal for grain have been carried out since 1975 in the Northeast of Portugal. Because of its high biomass production, triticale has also been studied as a forage crop since 1979. These studies were designed to investigate whether rye, the major cereal in that region which sometimes is grown as a forage crop or oats, sown in cereal-legume mixtures, could advantageously be replaced by triticale. According to previous data, the line UTAD 36/85, from the UTAD triticale breeding programme, and the Polish cultivar Presto were selected for studying the effect of the seeding rate on forage yield and quality. The regional rye population Vila Pouca and the Portuguese oats cultivar Boa-Fe were used as testers. Dry matter yield, forage quality (in vitro organic dry matter digestibility and crude protein content) and number of stems, m(-2) were evaluated at the seeding rates of 175, 350, 525 and 700 viable seeds.m(-2). Over all variables, triticale line UTAD 36/85 had the highest mean of dry matter yield (8715 kg.ha(-1)) while the regional rye population Vila Pouca had the lowest (7315 kg.ha(-1)). At the rates of 175 and 350 viable seeds.m(-2) the average number of stems. m(-2) for all genotypes was similar but it increased with higher rates. The highest in vitro organic matter digestibility was observed on triticale cv. Presto, 66.6% at the seeding rate of 175 viable seeds.m(-2), and the lowest on oats cv. Boa-FC, 52.8% at the same seeding rate. The highest crude protein content was observed for all seeding rates on the rye population while the oats cultivar showed the lowest one.