Progress in pasture plant physiology

Abstract

Some major achievements of pasture plant physiology are reviewed. Detailed study of growth patterns has provided an understanding of how grasses grow and how they persist in a grazed sward. Genetic variation for physiological characters is shown to offer opportunities for further progress in plant breeding. One of the effects of work on pasture productivity has been to draw attention to the accumulation of dead material, which needs to be harvested before it deteriorates, without however reducing growth rates by too frequent defoliation.