Effects of triticale cultivars grown in a Mediterranean environment on biomass yield and quality

Triticale is a valuable crop in Mediterranean environments because its growth capacity
at low temperatures and its precocity make it possible to obtain high biomass yields in early spring.
Precocity of triticale is particularly appreciated in Mediterranean environment, where irrigation allows the
sowing of a spring–summer corn crop after a winter cereal crop has been harvested for silage. In these conditions,
early planted corn can take advantage of both longer-cycle cultivars and of the lower incidence of the
European corn borerOstrinia nubilalisattacks. Nutritional quality of triticale as forage is related to the phenological
stage at harvest, cultivar choice, seeding rate and environmental conditions. The work reported in
this paper was aimed at verifying if the hypothesized effects of the differenthabitus(cold requirement) of triticale
cultivar grown at different seeding rates affect biomass quantity and quality at the stages of flowering
and milk-waxy-maturity, which are the most relevant for triticale silage production.