PASTURE SEEDS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 11 December 1939, Page 4

PASTURE SEEDS

INVESTIGATION RESULTS. MORE EXTENDED USE OF PLOUGH As a result of investigations recently undertaken into the production and consumption of pasture seeds, sufficient evidence is available to indicate that there is ample room for expansion in regard to the acreages of grass and clover closed for purposes of harvest ing seed. Particularly is this so in the case of the better strains of seeds such as receive recognition under the seed certification scheme, writes Mr R. B. Tennent, Director of Primary Production. The call has already been made, not only in New Zealand but in overseas countries, for an extended use of the plough. In the train of such a campaign must come a programme of re-establishment of areas to permanent pasture. The wisdom of using for this purpose only seeds of superior strain is undoubted. Such an action necessitates the. availability of an adequate supply of suitable seeds. New Zealand has unique features which place it in an excellent position to meet this demand for high-class seeds. It has the conditions, both natural and mechanical, for the harvesting of good seeds; it already has in existence strains of pasture plants unsurpassed in other countries, and in its seed certification organisation it has the equipment to identify the seeds of such strains. It only remains for farmers io realise that the pasture seed industry provides a very useful avenue of service to the country. The production of grass and clover seeds, both for use locally and for shipment overseas, is an activity which New Zealand must develop to the fullest extent. In the past the drive has been to use I more certified seed. In the future the production of such seed must be in-1

creased to the level of the demand. Neglect of this must result in a lower level of pasture production. It is only necessary to indicate the quantities of seeds harvested in New Zealand which are outside the certification scheme.— 1. Perennial ryegrass, 280,000 bus., equals 60 per cent of total production. 2. Italian ryegrass, 160,000 bus., 95 per cent of total production. 3. Cocksfoot, 840,0001bs„ 65 per cent of total production. 4. White clover, 200,0001t05., 35 per cent of total production. These figures indicate the extremely large quantities of seed produced which are not authenticated in regard to type quality. They indicate the tremendous expansion which is possible in regard to the production of certified seeds. What they do not indicate, however, is the fact that even if all this seed were of certification standard, the demand for seeds would not be satisfied.

Farmers are, therefore, urged, wherever possible, to save for seed production any areas which can be so set aside and which are likely to produce seed of a high producing type. It is not expected that the changeover to an “all-certified" programme can be accomplished at short notice. The objective is set up, however, and in the meantime one step in the right direction is the increased production of pasture seeds from those areas sown with certified seeds. In such a programme all pasture seeds should receive consideration, but particularly those vital to the farming community of New Zealand and exhibiting wide variations in strain—perennial ryegrass, Italian ryegrass and white clover.