Cultivation

Forage potential of Festulolium

x Festulolium Aschers. et Graebn.

Festulolium is an intergeneric hybrid of fescue and ryegrass, combining the high nutritional value and regrowth rate of ryegrass with the winter hardiness and longevity of fescue.

In the reference 36 varieties crop Festulolium, where this is mentioned in the description.

Festulolium breeding is aimed at creating a crop that exceeds parental species in forage base stability. From ryegrass, the hybrid inherited a high sugar content, metabolizable energy, vigorous growth, and good palatability, while from fescue it gained resistance to stress factors, including drought, waterlogging, and trampling, ensuring a productive stand life of 5 to 7 years.

An important agronomic feature of the crop is a reduced tendency to form reproductive shoots in subsequent cuts after the first, which allows maintaining the nutritional quality of green mass throughout the season. Depending on the dominance of parental genes, two types of hybrids are distinguished: the 'ryegrass' type with higher forage quality and the 'fescue' type with increased dry matter yield and adaptability to difficult growing conditions.

The crop is versatile and suitable for multiple pasture grazing, as well as for hay and haylage harvesting. Festulolium is highly responsive to nitrogen fertilization and irrigation, which allows it to be used as a high-yielding alternative to pure ryegrass or fescue stands in regions with unfavorable climatic conditions.

General information about the subject — on the page Forage purpose.

Sources8

Varieties of Festulolium mentioned in the description

Selection based on the description text, not on official evaluation: these data are absent from registers. For specific variety details, please refer to its profile.