YIELD AND QUALITY OF SPRING TRITICALE USED FOR FORAGE AND GRAIN AS INFLUENCED BY SOWING DATE AND CUTTING STAGE

Six held experiments involving two sowing times at each of three sites across Spain were conducted to study the response of three spring tri ticales to forage removal at early stages. Forage dry matter harvested at the first-node-detectable stage (31) doubled or tripled forage har vested at the pseudostem-erect stage (30). Sowing date affected forage production only when cutting was delayed until stage 31, and had a si gnificant effect on the subsequent grain yield and test weight. Forage quality was not affected by sowing date, and forage removal did not a ffect grain protein content. Grain yield was reduced by about 16% when forage was removed at stage 30 and by nearly 33% at stage 31. At the two northern sites, grain-yield reductions following forage removal ma y be attributed to grain-weight decreases caused by a prolonged cycle to anthesis. At the southern site, forage removal did not affect the l ife cycle, probably due to the longer photoperiods, greater irradiatio n, and higher temperature during spring.