Studies on Oversowing of Natural Grasslands: III. The Seeding Rates for the Establishment of Desmodium uncinatum (Jacq.) DC When Oversown or Sod-Seeded in Hyparrhenia Grassland

Abstract

The possibility of legume establishment by oversowing in permanent grassland under Kenya conditions has been demonstrated (Keya, Olsen and Holliday 1971a, 1971b, 1972, Keya and Kalangi 1973). Oversowing in this context has involved the broadcasting of legume seed mixed with superphosphate in the perphosph untreated permanent grassland. However, where grassland was tall and/or dense, cattle were confined to the oversown site for several days to ensure contact between the legume seed and the soil. Sod-seeding on the other hand involves the drilling of seed into grassland without preliminary cultivations and consists of the placement of seed (and fertilizer) in the furrows or slits in the sward formed by coulters of a sod seeding machine. Improvement of permanent grassland with legumes has been reported in New Zealand (Cross and Glenday 1956, Robinson and Cross 1960 and White 1970), Australia (Warboys 1966) and North America (van Keuren, Triplette and Myers 1972). The types of machinery required for effective grass-land pre-treatment prior to sod-seeding have been discussed by Warboys (1963).