IMPROVED RESULTS

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31110, 13 July 1966, Page 3

IMPROVED RESULTS

New Ryegrass | Developed ( Parliamentary Reporter) WELLINGTON, July 12. A highly productive, wintergrowing annual ryegrass, called “grasslands 4707" tetrapioid western wolths ryegrass, has been developed by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, says the department’s annual report, which was tabled in Parliament today. The new variety differs from Italian ryegrass in that it grows quickly, has a broad leaf, and is a more open type of plant. Its seeds are double the size of Italian ryegrass j seeds, producing much bigger iseedlings. There are indicaitions that it may be more I nutritious for animals.

In preliminary trials from Kaikohe in the north to Invermay in the south, the Department’s Grasslands Division, in collaboration with the Department of Agriculture, found that “grasslands 4707” was equal or superior to Italian ryegrass for rate of establishment and autumnwinter growth in most cases.

At the Lincoln substation, production of the new variety has been exceptional, its yield was 50 per cent higher than that of Italian ryegrass. A further series of trials, particularly in the Canterbury district, is being conducted this year to determine whether the new variety will be released commercially, states the report.