Publications
NIBIOs employees contribute to several hundred scientific articles and research reports every year. You can browse or search in our collection which contains references and links to these publications as well as other research and dissemination activities. The collection is continously updated with new and historical material.
2007
Authors
Trygve S. Aamlid Hans Martin Hanslin Bjørn Molteberg Åge Susort Anne Steensohn Frank Enger Palle HaalandAbstract
Twelve fertilizer/biostimulant products or product families were compared with mineral fertilizer in three two-year trials on USGA greens and sand-based football fields in southern Norway. Within each trial, all treatments were received the same amount of total nitrogen per year. Substitution of some of the mineral fertilizer with Gro-Power® improved turfgrass quality in one trial. Otherwise, the organic fertilizers and biostimulants producted results that were equal to or inferior to the control treatment. In conclusion, fertilization of sand-based golf greens and football fields ought to be based on light and frequent applications of mineral fertilizer throughout the growing season. Organic fertilizers and biostimulants can, at best, be supplements to such a fertilizer program.
Authors
Bjørn Molteberg Trygve S. Aamlid Gudni Thorvaldsson Anders Hammarlund Frank Enger Tatsiana Espevig Åge Susort Daniel NordAbstract
This report gives the results of the sowing year 2007 from testing of turfgrass varieties for use on Scandinavian putting greens. The total project period is 2007-2010.
Abstract
During 2002-2005, Norwegian seed yields of meadow fescue (Festuca pratensis Huds.) were 52% lower in organic than in conventional seed production. The difference was most conspicuous in ley year 1, suggesting that seed crop establishment is a limiting factor in organic seed production. Meadow fescue is usually underseeded in a cover crop of spring wheat or spring barley, and many organic growers delay the underseeding until after harrowing for weed control. Our objectives were (1) to determine whether organic seed crops of meadow fescue should be underseeded in the same operation as, or immediately after, the cover crop (implying no harrowing for weed control); or if they should be underseeded in conjunction with, or just after, weed harrowing (on average nine days after the cover crop); and (2) to compare the establishment of meadow fescue seed crops without cover crop or in cover crops of spring barley, spring wheat, peas or green fodder (barley + peas). On average for all cover crops and four trials, first year’s seed yields of meadow fescue were 11 % lower for crops seeded after weed harrowing than for crop seeded immediately after the cover crop. Weed harrowing combined with delayed seeding also resulted in more scentless mayweed (Tripleurospérmum inodórum) and other weeds in ley year 1. Despite less plant-available nitrogen in spring, seed crops underseeded just after the cover crop were more lodged than crops underseeded after weed harrowing. On average for the two seeding dates, the highest seed yield were produced from crops seeded in pure stand and from crops that had been underseeded in green fodder and received an extra 30 kg N ha-1 in manure shortly after green fodder harvest in late July. The results suggest that seed crops of meadow fescue need ample supply of light, water and nutrients in August to produce a good seed yield in ley year 1.
Abstract
The application of plant growth regulators (PGRs) and insecticides, either alone or in tank mixture, was tested in nine on-farm trials laid out according to three different experimental plans in SE Norway (59-61ºN) from 2002 to 2006. The first plan compared the PGRs trinexapac-ethyl (125 or 250 g a.i. ha-1), chlormequat chloride (2000 g a.i. ha-1) and ethephon (240 g a.i. ha-1) applied on two dates and compared with an untreated check. On average for three trials, seed yield of the diploid cv. Nordi (origin 61ºN) increased 15 % by application of trinexapac-ethyl (250 g a.i. ha-1) at stem elongation, decreased 18 % by application of ethephone at flower bud emergence, and was not significantly affected by any of the other treatments. The diploid cv. Bjursele (two trials) and the tetraploid cv. Betty (one trial) showed no response to any of the PGRs. In the second experimental plan, laid out in two seed crops of the diploid cv. Lea in 2005, trinexapac-ethyl (125 or 250 g a.i. ha- 1) was applied alone or in tank mixture with the insecticides alpha-cypermethrin (20 g a.i. ha-1) or dimethoate (500 g a.i. ha-1) on two dates. These trials verified the positive effect of trinexapacethyl, but the insecticides had no significant effect, which is not surprising as no harmful insects were detected. The third experimental plan compared insecticides at two developmental stages in a seed crop of cv. Lea with a high occurrence of Apion seed weevil and the lesser clover leaf weevil Hypera nigrirostris. In this trial, alpha-cypermethrin increased seed yield by 14 % when applied at flower bud emergence. Effective from 2004, Moddus 250 EC (trinexapac-ethyl) was approved in Norwegian seed production of selected cultivars of red clover. Research is still underway to evaluate the need for control of various weevils.
Abstract
Norwegian agriculture is totally dependent on a safe supply of seed of winter-hardy timothy varieties. The annual seed consumption varies depending on the extent of winter damages, particularly in northern Norway, and the average seed yield varies with weather and harvest conditions in the seed-producing districts in the southeastern and central part of the country. To buffer these variations, seed companies always keep stocks corresponding to 50-100 % of the average annual seed consumption. Such large stocks are risky to maintain as seed lots will loose germination over time. Our objective was to elucidate the effect of seed harvest time and seed storage location on the longevity of timothy seed. In 2003, timothy ‘Grindstad’ was combined directly on 2, 5 or 8 August corresponding to a seed moisture content (SMC) of 34, 27 and 20 %, respectively. After harvest the seed was dried to 10-11 % SMC. Germination analyses were accomplished 3, 15, 26 and 38 months after seed harvest; the three latter after splitting each seed lot into four sub-lots that were stored either in a conditioned seed store (4ºC, 30% RH), or in unconditioned warehouses at there climatically different locations. While seed harvest time had no effect on germination three months after harvest, differences became increasingly evident as time went by. After 38 months’ storage, seed stored in the conditioned store or in the warehouse at the continental location Tynset germinated, on average for harvest times, 15-16 units better than seed stored in the warehouse at the coastal location Vaksdal; and seed lots harvested at 20 % SMC germinated, on average for storage locations, 24 units better than seed harvested at 37 % SMC. While it has long been documented that direct combining at high SMC may damage seed germination, there has been less awareness that this damage may not manifest itself until after a certain storage period.
Abstract
Tiller demography and contribution to seed yield were studied in first year seed crops of smooth bromegrass (SB, Bromus inermis ‘Lofar’) and meadow fescue (MF, Festuca pratensis ‘Salten’) planted on different dates and with increasing plant densities (A: 15 Jun. / 11 plants m-2, B: 15 or 30 July / 44 plants m-2, C: 15 August or 10 September /178 plants m-2) in field trials at Landvik, SE Norway. While the total tiller population in most crops increased until seed harvest, it decreased during panicle elongation in crops of SB and MF that had reached 2000 and 3500 tillers m-2 in early spring, respectively. Except for the fact that many of the primary tillers of SB died after producing barren stems, tillers formed in August and September had the greatest chance of becoming reproductive and produced the heaviest inflorescences in both species. Most tillers produced in winter or early spring either remained vegetative or died, but spring-emerging tillers contributed up to 30% of the total seed yield in early-established, low-density crops of MF. It is concluded that spring-emerged tillers contribute more to seed yield in MF than in SB and more in seed crops established early at low plant density than in crops established late at higher density.
Abstract
Since the formation of the International Herbage Seed Group (IHSG, formerly IHSPRG) in 1978, International Herbage Seed Conferences have been organized, mostly at four year intervals. The Sixth Conference was held at Gjennestad Horticultural College in Vestfold, Norway, from 18 to 20 June 2007. As for other IHSG activities, the objective of the conference was ‘to encourage cooperation and communication between workers actively engaged in herbage seed production research’. About 80 delegates from 20 countries attended the conference. Four invited and almost sixty voluntary papers were presented, either orally or as posters. The topics were split into the following sessions: 1. Opening session with overview over herbage seed production and seed trade, world wide. 2. Herbage seed for the future: Biodiversity, GMOs and the role of seed yield capacity in herbage breeding programs. 3. Seed production of tropical species and species for stressful environments. 4. Physiological restraints to seed set and seed filling. 5. Establishing the potential for high and pure seed yields. 6. Fertility, plant growth regulators, and plant protection. 7. Statistical methods, seed harvest, and post-harvest issues.
Abstract
The control of Alopecurus geniculatus, Poa annua and Poa trivialis using iodosulfuron (Hussar/Hussar OD) was investigated in field experiments in the seed harvest year in timothy (Phleum pratense), and in the sowing year and seed harvest year in smooth meadow-grass (Poa pratensis) and red fescue (Festuca rubra). Iodosulfuron (10 g a.i. ha-1) usually had good effect on Poa trivialis and Alopecurus geniculatus. As for Poa annua the effect on seed contamination was better than on weed coverage in the field. Early application improved weed control in the seed harvest years, and iodosulfuron was shown to perform well at low temperatures. The herbicide often delayed timothy development, but caused seed yield reduction only in two out of eight experiments, both with moist soil at treatment. The visual damage increased with increasing rates and use of additives (alcoholetoxylate or rape oil). A questionnaire investigation among timothy growers in 2004 showed that farmers using Hussar had 43% lower contamination of P. trivialis in cleaned seed yield and 20% lower yield than the farmers not using Hussar. In some trials in timothy and smooth meadow-grass, the new formulation Hussar OD gave slightly more damage than the old formulation Hussar. While well-established timothy crops seem to tolerate some visual damage without seed yield reduction, the risk of yield reduction in first year crops can usually be avoided by splitting the application into 5 g a.i. ha-1 at 14 days intervals. In smooth meadow-grass and red fescue established without cover crop, repeated applications of 5 g a.i. ha-1 in the sowing year resulted in better control of P. annua and significant seed yield improvements compared to application only in the seed harvest year. Both Hussar and Hussar OD have off-label approvals for members of the Norwegian Seed Growers Association.
Abstract
No abstract has been registered
2006
Abstract
No abstract has been registered