Regulating effect of nitrogen fertilizer and row spacing on yield and quality of Phalaris arundinacea at different growth stages

Reed canarygrass Tongcao No.1(Phalaris arundinacea cv. Tongcao No.1) was used as test material, two factors of nitrogen application level (0, 46, and 92 kg·hm-2) and row spacing (30,50 and 70 cm) were designed, a field complete split-plot experiment was conducted to study the effects of row spacing and nitrogen fertilizer application level on the yield and nutritional contents of reed canarygrass at different growth stages. The results showed that: the yield and quality of reed canarygrass were influenced significantly by nitrogen fertilizer application level and row spacing.With an increase of nitrogen level, forage yield and contents of crude protein, calcium and phosphorus of reed canarygrass increased and the nitrogen free extract contents decreased at different growth stages. CF content and ADF content of reed canarygrass at heading decreased and increased at maturity stag and regrowth stage. The yield of reed canarygrass at different growth stages decreased with an increase of row spacing. Among nine treatment combinations, there were higher forage yield in A30B92 treatment at heading and maturity stage, and there was higher forage quality in A70B92 treatment. Reed canarygrass Tongcao No.1 can obtained higher forage yield and crude protein content when the planting row spacing was 30 cm and the nitrogen rate was 92 kg·hm-2, and the period of suitable cutting utilization was heading stage.