IMPACT OF MANAGEMENT PRACTICES ON ITALIAN RYEGRASS SEED QUALITY

Thousand-seed weight and total germination from the firstproduction year and two seed harvests were measured in tetraploid Italian ryegrass (cv. Tetraflorum) to study variations in seed quality. Four-year field experimentswere carried out (2002-2006) in western Serbia and Italian ryegrass wasestablished with three row spacings (20, 40 and 60 cm), four seeding rates (5, 10, 15 and 20 kg ha-1) and using four spring nitrogen rates (0, 50, 100 and 150 kg ha-1). High seed quality was obtained, except for the first experimental year (2003) andthe second seed harvests which yielded the seed of unsatisfactory quality andvalidity. Applied factors and treatments did not change seed quality significantlyunlike environmental conditions of production years which had considerableinfluence on seed quality