Time of mowing and burning veld: short term effects on production and tiller development.

Abstract

In a comparison of mowing and burning as removal treatments in the Natal Tall Grassveld, mowing proved to be superior to burning in terms of sward productivity in the season following the removal treatment, but burning was responsible for a sward of higher protein content, at least during the early part of the season. Varying time of either mowing or burning between 1 August and 16 October had little effect on recovery growth but harvesting of the recovery growth of burnt veld in the early season in particular, reduced total yields considerably. This yield reduction brought about by early harvesting of regrowth emphasized the need to provide adequate rests after burning before burned veld is grazed in the spring.

Keywords: botany; burning; growth; harvesting; mowing; natal; production; productivity; south africa; tall grassveld; tiller development; treatments; ukulinga research station; veld; yield