Botanical Composition, Herbage Production and Plant Mineral Contents as Affected by Application of Chemical Fertilizer and Fermented Sawdust Pig Manure on Cheju Brown Volcanic Ash Pasture Soil

This experiment was carried out during the period from September, 1997 to October, 1998 to determine the effect of fermented saw-dust pig manure (FSP) application on the herbage production on a mixed pasture in the Cheju brown volcanic ash soil. Split plot design (main plot: 3 nitrogen application levels of 0, 150 and 300 kgiha; sub plot: 4 pig sawdust manure levels of 0, 3, 6 and 12 tonha) was used. Plant height and dry matter yield increased significantly with an increase of nitrogen and FSP level. There was no difference in the botanical composition of grasses as affected by FSP application level, but herbage yields of grass species were increased by nitrogen application compared to that without nitrogen application. Botanical composition of white clover decreased with an increase of nitrogen application, but increased with an increase of FSP application level. Percentages of weeds were not affected by application rates of chemical nitrogen fertilizer and swine manure in the mixed species pasture. Nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium contents of species in the pasture significantly increased with increasing application rates of nitrogen fertilizer. In conclusion, it would be an optimum to apply 150 kgha of inorganic chemical fertilizer and plus either 3 or 6 toniha of fermented swine manure with sawdust for optimum production of mixed pasture on Cheju Island. (Key words : Herbage production, Botanical composition, Morphology, Plant mineral contents)