A Detailed Guide to Ryegrass Planting Techniques and Methods

The lack of green fodder in winter and spring remains a factor limiting the improvement of the production performance of herbivorous livestock. To solve this problem, using idle winter land after the autumn harvest to plant ryegrass is an important approach for developing herbivorous livestock in the Huaibei region. Ryegrass generally yields about 3000 kg of fresh grass per mu, with a maximum of up to 5000 kg. Its stems and leaves are tender, nutritious and highly palatable. Nutritional composition: crude protein 4.93%, crude fat 1.06%, nitrogen-free extract 4.57%, calcium 0.075%, phosphorus 0.07%. Its crude protein and crude fat content is 3 times higher than that of local weeds.

Characteristics of Ryegrass

Ryegrass is an annual grass-family forage with strong adaptability, high yield and tolerance to alkali, poor soil and cold; it resists pests and diseases, tillers profusely and has strong regrowth capacity, and it has relatively high water and nutrient requirements. Therefore, flat land with fertile soil of relatively high organic matter content must be chosen for planting, and it must have convenient drainage and irrigation, in order to obtain high yields.

Land Preparation

1. Shallow plowing to remove stubble. After autumn crops such as cotton, sweet potato and soybean are harvested, plow once shallowly to turn out the residual roots left in the soil by the previous crop, so as to facilitate fertilization and restore soil fertility. Shallow plowing accompanied by 1-2 harrowings can preserve soil moisture and remove stubble, preparing the way for fertilization and deep plowing.

2. Apply sufficient base fertilizer. Because ryegrass has a high grass yield and requires more nutrients, sufficient base fertilizer must be applied. The level of fresh grass yield of ryegrass is closely related to the amount of fertilizer applied. Generally, apply 5000 kg of farmyard manure, 40 kg of superphosphate and 25 kg of ammonium bicarbonate per mu. Break up the farmyard manure and spread it evenly; scatter the chemical fertilizer along the furrow and bury it in the soil as the plow goes down.

3. Deep plowing and fine harrowing. Plow to a depth of 20-22 cm to loosen and mellow the plow layer, which favors the growth of the ryegrass root system and increases its ability to absorb water and nutrients. The land is required to be plowed to the end and to the edge, with no unplowed strips. Plow and harrow at the same time, and manually break up any large clods that appear, so as to achieve fine soil and a level surface.

Sowing

1. Sowing period. In the Huaibei region, the sowing period for ryegrass is generally slightly later than that for autumn-sown wheat, but because ryegrass is planted on idle winter land, sowing can only be carried out after the previous crop is cleared and the land is prepared. Therefore, the sowing period is from October 20 to 25; within this range, earlier is preferable to later, otherwise it will affect the improvement of ryegrass yield.

2. Sowing method. To facilitate field management, sow in drills with a three-legged wooden drill, generally to a depth of 5 cm; the specific depth should also be flexibly controlled according to soil moisture, soil texture and land preparation, and its range of variation should not be too large. When sowing, meet the requirement of "one level, two clean, watch three with the eye, tight three, slow three, sudden three and one lift".

3. Seeding rate. Generally sow 7.5-10 kg per mu, increasing or decreasing as appropriate according to soil texture, soil moisture, quality of land preparation and seed germination rate.