Evaluation of the establishment of three cultivars of chicory (Cichorium intybus L.) in association with biennial ryegrass and oats in Purranque

Abstract

Chichorium intybus L. is an emergent supplementary crop for farmers in southern Chile, and there is little knowledge about its management and production. The aim of this study was to evaluate the establishment, production, nutritional quality and morphological components of different chicory varieties (Chicory 501, Choice and Punter) sown in mixture with Lolium multiflorum Lam. and oats. Germination, botanical composition and nutritional quality were measured. To analise the establishment and botanical composition, a completely random design was used in an area of 4.5 hectares, divided into nine plots with three replicates for each cultivar. For the analysis of yield and morphological composition, Anova was performed. No significant differences were observed between the three cultivars at establishment (first three cuts) for DM yield, but in the last cut Punter achieved the highest yield, followed by Choice and finally Chicory 501 (106.1, 40.5 and 6, 9 kg DM ha-1, respectively). According to the botanical composition, the species with the highest contribution was L. multiflorum (98% accumulated). The morphological characteristics showed that Choice presented larger leaves (13.38 cm long), Chicory 501 had the higher amount of leaves (2.98) and Punter registered the greatest leaf/stem ratio (2.78).