Effects of seeding rate and fertilizer on establishment and growth of Atriplex halimus and Medicago arborea

Two common fodder shrubs, Atriplex halimus L. and Medicago arborea L., were established by seeds for hay cropping as an alternative to their costly transplanting in a semi-arid and cold Mediterranean environment of Macedonia, northern Greece. It was found that seeding rate and nitrogen fertilizer did not affect the establishment and growth of A. halimus seedlings while clipping significantly reduced the quantity but improved the quality of biomass. In contrast, the biomass of M. arborea was significantly increased by the higher seeding rate at the end of the growing season. It was, however, far less than the biomass produced by A. halimus, indicating perhaps the superiority of the latter species as a hay crop in the particular environment studied. (C) 1996 Academic Press Limited