Canopy structure and forage production of Lolium rigidum Gaudin as influenced by the frequency of defoliation

The Mediterranean forage production development is closely related both to the increased availability of base materials and to the promotion of the benefits in producing seeds at farm level (Riveros et al., 1992). In the last years the research activity on this field has known a notable impulse with several projects awarded by FAO and European Union, mainly interested in the improvement of agronomic and management techniques for the seed production in the marginal South European areas. Nevertheless, the large selection of new materials and the base varieties production is not followed by a sufficient multiplication activity in specialized seed production farms as well as in forage-livestock farms. Consequently, the seed market in the Mediterranean regions is almost totally dependent from extra-European countries, as Australia and United States of America (Lelievre and Mansat, 1990). The main objective of this paper was to define the main morphological traits of "Nurra" using "Wimmera" as a test, in order to individuate "distinctive", "homogeneous" and "stable" botanical characteristics useful for the registration of "Nurra" in the Italian Register of Varieties.