Abstract
For utilizing barnyardgrass (Echinochloa Crus-galli BEAUV. var. caudata KITAGAWA) as a forage crop, the experiments were conducted to obtain the fundamental data on the daily changes of shedding habit and germination capacity of the seeds after heading. These informations were thought to be useful for the seed production, the practical use of the naturally dropped seeds of barnyardgrass in the successive cultivation with Italian ryegrass, and the countermeasure for keeping off the escape of barnyardgrass. The shedding habit was shown as the percentage of the seeds shed from the pedicel when an ear was slightly grasped in a hand and was pulled by another hand. The germination capacity was shown as the percentage of the germinated seeds in petri dish after the seeds awakened from their dormancy. 1. The first shedding seeds from the pedicel appeared on eight or nine days after heading. The percentage of shed seeds increased straightly with time from the first appearance of shedding, and reached about 50 percent by 20 days after heading. 2. The shed seeds showed 95 to 100 percent of germination in the germination test by using petri dish. 3. Forty to sixty percent of the non-shed seeds obtained the germination capacity on 19 to 20 days after heading. 4. The germination capacity of whole seeds including shed and non-shed sheeds increased by about 4.8 percent per day and reached about 80 percent on 20 days after heading, showing a high positive correlation with the number of days after heading.
