Effects of seeding rate and fertilizer on establishment and growth ofAtriplex halimusandMedicago arborea

Two common fodder shrubs,Atriplex halimusL. andMedicago arboreaL., 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 ofA. halimusseedlings while clipping significantly reduced the quantity but improved the quality of biomass. In contrast, the biomass ofM. arboreawas significantly increased by the higher seeding rate at the end of the growing season. It was, however, far less than the biomass produced byA. halimus, indicating perhaps the superiority of the latter species as a hay crop in the particular environment studied