Seeding Indian ricegrass in an arid environment in the Great Basin
Issue Date
1994-01-01Keywords
variety trialsdesert soils
planting depth
planting date
Achnatherum hymenoides
scarification
arid zones
seedling emergence
sowing rates
establishment
Nevada
Metadata
Show full item recordCitation
Young, J. A., Blank, R. R., Longland, W. S., & Palmquist, D. E. (1994). Seeding Indian ricegrass in an arid environment in the Great Basin. Journal of Range Management, 47(1), 2-7.Publisher
Society for Range ManagementJournal
Journal of Range ManagementDOI
10.2307/4002831Additional Links
https://rangelands.org/Abstract
Indian ricegrass [Oryzopsis hymenoides (R. & S.) Rickerl is a valuable forage species adapted to arid rangelands in temperate deserts. The purpose of this study was to test the influence of seeding date, depth, and rate on Indian ricegrass emergence and seedling establishment of acid scarified and intact caryopses (seeds). The seeding experiments were conducted on a wind eroding sand sheet of Lahontan age in western Nevada. During the initial year of planting, seeds of the cultivars Nezpar and Paloma Indian ricegrass were successfully established without pretreatment by acid scarification. Acid scarified seeds did not result in the established seedling stands in the field. Initial seedings were done in a season with prolonged moisture events with total precipitation about twice the average. Seedling stands of crested wheatgrass [Agropyron desertorum (Fisch.) ex Link Schult] as well as other exotic and native herbaceous and woody species were established during the first year. During the next 4 years crested wheatgrass seedlings were never again established. Indian ricegrass seedlings were established in 3 of the 4 subsequent years of seeding trials using a seeding rate of 0.8 seeds/cm of row and a seeding depth of 1 cm. Indian ricegrass seedling emergence was increased by either increasing the planting depth to 5 cm or by reducing the seeding rate to 0.03 seeds/cm of row. The ultra-low seeding rate resulted in a significant saving in seed cost.Type
textArticle
Language
enISSN
0022-409Xae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.2307/4002831