Browsing by Author "Britz, Ethan"

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    Nitrogen fertilization increases the growth and nutritional quality of the forage legume, Calobota sericea – A preliminary investigation
    (Elsevier, 2023) Britz, Ethan; Cyster, Lilburne; Samuels, Igshaan
    Calobota sericea is being evaluated as a forage for drought stressed areas. The nutritional quality of C. sericea from native populations are poor, and this is believed to be due to poor soil fertility. Therefore, a greenhouse trial was established to determine the impact of N-fertilization level (0, 25, 50, 75 and 100 kg/ha) on the growth and nutritional quality of C. sericea plants. Three-monthold plants were harvested and the root and shoot length, as well as branching intensity on each plant determined. Thereafter, the shoots were separated into leaves and stems and all plant parts were oven dried for dry mass determination. After weighing, the leaves and stems for each plant were combined and the dried shoots used for nutrient determination. Results indicated that increased N application levels is positively correlated with improved C. sericea growth. Similarly, mineral nutrient uptake increased significantly under all the N-fertilization treatments and crude protein content increased from 9.6% to 18.6%. Plant growth was only statistically significantly (p < 0.05) improved when N was applied at rates of 50 kg/ha and more, but crude protein content increased from the lowest N application rates (25 kg/ha). The improved growth and nutrient uptake could primarily be explained by improved resource allocation under N-fertilization. Therefore, appropriately fertilized C. sericea can result in improved forage production and improved quality forages and when N is applied at high enough rates.
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    Nitrogen fertilization increases the growth and nutritional quality of the forage legume, calobota sericea – A preliminary investigation
    (Heliyon, 2023) Britz, Ethan; Cyster, Lilburne; Samuels, Igshaan; Clement, Cupido
    Calobota sericea is being evaluated as a forage for drought stressed areas. The nutritional quality of C. sericea from native populations are poor, and this is believed to be due to poor soil fertility. Therefore, a greenhouse trial was established to determine the impact of N-fertilization level (0, 25, 50, 75 and 100 kg/ha) on the growth and nutritional quality of C. sericea plants. Three-month-old plants were harvested and the root and shoot length, as well as branching intensity on each plant determined. Thereafter, the shoots were separated into leaves and stems and all plant parts were oven dried for dry mass determination. After weighing, the leaves and stems for each plant were combined and the dried shoots used for nutrient determination.
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    Seed germination and early seedling growth responses to drought stress in annual Medicago L. And Trifolium L. Forages
    (MDPI, 2022) Müller, Francuois; Masemola, Letty; Britz, Ethan
    Climate change in the Mediterranean-like regions of South Africa has resulted in increased rainfall variability, a delayed start to the wet winter season, and increased occurrences of out-ofseason summer rainfall events. These changes in bioclimatic conditions are predicted to become more pronounced and, therefore, could result in poor seedling establishment and false breaks from the soil seed bank, followed by seedling desiccation in annual medic and clover pastures. This study therefore aimed to quantify and compare the responses of three annual Medicago species and five annual Trifolium species to drought stress imposed at the seed germination, seedling establishment, and early seedling growth stages. Three separate controlled trials were conducted. Firstly, the seeds were germinated in seed germination chambers at constant temperatures ranging from 5 to 30 ◦C, in 5 ◦C increments, with five osmotic treatments within each temperature, and germination was recorded daily. For the second experiment, seeds were planted at 100, 70, 50, and 30% of the soil’s moisture-holding capacity without subsequent watering, and emergence was recorded daily. For the third experiment, one-month-old seedlings were subjected to two water-limitation periods (15 or 30 days), and their subsequent morphological responses were measured.