Recent Teagasc research shows that multispecies grasslands can potentially reduce both nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions and emissions intensities, and can contribute to more sustainable grassland production. Greenhouse gas measurements carried out by Saoirse Cummins showed that the annual greenhouse gas emissions per unit output (DM yield or biomass N) from the multi-species mixture were lower than those from perennial ryegrass receiving either 150 or 300 kg ha-1 yr-1 of inorganic nitrogen (N).
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As part
of the EU SmartAgriHubs
project, Teagasc is investigating how to incorporate biodiversity into the
Teagasc National Farm Survey. In a recent webinar, I presented the first results from the application of a habitat index to a sample of 300 farms in the NFS.
Based on a Teagasc press release from August 2021
Six-species swards outperformed perennial ryegrass monocultures and were considerably more resistant to drought. New research from Teagasc, Johnstown Castle and Trinity College Dublin shows that multi-species mixtures receiving 150 kg/ha/year of nitrogen fertiliser, out-yielded perennial ryegrass monocultures receiving double that amount of fertiliser (300 kg/ha/year). Increases in plant diversity up to six species in intensively managed grasslands reduced the impact of drought, and produced more yield with less fertiliser.
This link opens a report from an Irish workshop to solicit biodiversity scientists' opinions as part of an EU series of workshops requested to address the topic 'The Common Agricultural Policy post-2020: A new Green Architecture, Novel Eco-schemes and biodiversity indicators. How can scientists and science help to make it work?'
This post lists some webinars and videos on multi-species swards that our research group has contributed to.
Multi-species mixtures are expected to benefit grassland production because of the yield advantage from nitrogen fixed by clover, the variety of rooting structures allows them to access a wider range of soil water and nutrients, and their canopy structure that allows them to intercept more sunlight. In addition, they are associated with lower parasite loads in livestock, reduced greenhouse emissions, and increased carbon sequestration. Here, we give a brief overview of some of our current (2020) research on mixtures at Teagasc, Johnstown Castle.
