LEAF-AREA, GRAIN-YIELD AND YIELD COMPONENTS FOLLOWING FORAGE REMOVAL IN TRITICALE

Triticale (xTriticosecale Wittmack) is a cereal that can be simultaneously used for forage and for grain, but this dual purpose is currently limited by a lack of information concerning the effects of forage removal on grain production. Thus, the effect of one or two successive cuttings (simulated grazing) on grain yield, yield components in the main stem and tillers, leaf area and biomass development were studied in four hexaploid triticales grown under irrigation and with high soil fertility. Forage removal reduced grain yield and grain weight per plant in proportion to the number of cuttings, mainly by reducing the number of tillers with spikes at harvest. Whereas foliage reduction did not affect the number of spikelets per spike, kernels per spike, or floral fertility in the main-stem spike, these yield components were drastically reduced in the spikes of tillers. Forage removal affected mean weight per kernel to approximately the same extent in the main stem as in the tillers. The Leaf Area Index (LAI) at anthesis showed significant loss due to cutting, mainly because of a decrease in the number of leaves per plant and in the green area per leaf. This caused similar decreases in the Leaf Area Duration (LAD) from anthesis to maturity. A strong inverse relationship was found between the percent of loss in LAI at anthesis and the final grain yield, suggesting that grain yield was largely dependent upon the ability of the crops to produce new leaf tissue rapidly in the time between cutting and anthesis.