Dry-season Legume Forages to Follow Paddy Rice in NE Thailand. III. Influence of Time and Intensity of Cutting on Crotalaria juncea

Abstract

SUMMARYAn experiment at the University of Queensland studied the response of Crotalaria juncea to a single cut above node 4 or 10 at 6, 8 or 10 weeks after planting under long or short (inductive) daylengths. Initial deleterious effects of cutting on plant parts were in the sequence nodules > roots > shoots. Subsequent greater regrowth from plants cut earliest and at the higher node was associated with higher residual leaf area and negative growth rates were inferred below 90 cm2 pot−1. Redistribution of assimilate from stem to leaf production followed cutting; in inductive daylengths of 11.4 hours, flowering was delayed and the proportion of leaf increased from 21.0 to 32.4%. The high nitrogen content of leaf (3.5–5.3%) compared to stem (0.6–1.7%) indicated that early cutting was important in producing good quality hay.