Seed production of perennial grasses in the Far North

Abstract

The results of research on improving disturbed lands by sowing them with perennial grasses are presented. The methods of seed production of perennial cereal grasses, the genotype of which allows to go through all development phases during a short warm period and resume their growth the next year, were studied. The study was carried out in the forest-tundra zone of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug on an oldarable (30-year development) surface-podzolic eluvial-gleyic soil in 2016-2018. It was established that sowing perennial grasses for seeds using a wide-row method is more effective than conventional row planting. On average in 2 years, the yield of seeds of red fescue grass was 0.36 t/ha, which is 0.08 t/ha or 28.6%, higher with a wide-row sowing method than with the conventional row planting. It was established that a decrease in the seeding rate by half ensures an increase in the yield of seeds compared to the previously recommended rates. The yield of seeds of red fescue grass with a reduced seeding rate and a wide-row sowing method on average in 2 years was 0.39 t/ha, alpine bluegrass – 0.6 t/ha, which was 0.02–0.06 t/ha higher than with full seeding rates, respectively. Sowing of cereal grasses in the middle of September (before winter) proved to be promising. The seed yield of Bering meadow grass sown in early-winter was noted to be higher (by 83%) than in the spring period; the yield of red fescue grass was practically the same in both studied variants. The maximum seed yield is formed by local species of perennial grasses.