Research on the Exploitation of Temporary Meadows in a Mixed System under the Conditions of Central Moldavia, Romania

Abstract

The study of temporary meadows is of particular scientific importance, because they make possible the edification and characterization of some essential aspects regarding the relationship between the diversity, stability and maturity of ecosystems; the relationships between species; the biological balance between natural and artificial ecosystems; aspects that are greatly debated nowadays. They can replace degraded permanent meadows, or on arable land intended for fodder. When creating the mixtures, the basic requirement that must be taken into account is that they form a uniform grass cover and are well adapted to stationary conditions. The importance of developing temporary meadows led to the initiation of studies at ARDS Secuieni, starting with 2017, with the aim of creating the best mixtures adapted to the pedo-climatic conditions in the area. The results obtained in the conditions of Central Moldavia showed that fertilization with different doses of fertilizer influenced the production of dry matter compared to the non-fertilized variants. The variant fertilized with the dose of N80P40 kg/ha had the highest fodder production, i.e.16.13 t/ha d.m.; the difference compared to the control was quite a significant one; and the lowest production was obtained with the control variable (N0P0), i.e. 9.47 t/ha d.m. Analysing the data obtained, it can be easily noticed that, in the variants studied, there were five production cuttings; alternating hay mowing with that for simulating grazing (mixed regime). Analysing the results obtained, for the first cutting, regarding the influence of fertilization and the mixture used on the percentage of grass and leguminous species, it was found that in the mixture of 85% grasses (Dactylis glomerata 60% + Lolium perenne 25%) and 15% perennial leguminous (Lotus corniculatus 15%), the percentage of grasses participation in the grass cover was between 64.5% for the variant fertilized with N40P40 and 86.0% for the variant fertilized with N80P40. The leguminous that are part of the grass cover were between 12.7% for the variant fertilized with N80P40 and 34.6% for the variant fertilized with N40P40, and the percentage of participation of various species was between 0.5% and 1.4%. The participation percentage of perennial grasses and leguminous varied depending on the dose of fertilizer applied, and the quality of the fodder obtained was good for all the mixtures studied, being primarily determined by the doses of fertilizers administered, but also by the species and the proportion of their participation in the sowing rate under the conditions of Central Moldavia from 2017 to 2020.