Indian ricegrass (Orysopsis hymenoides (Roem. & Schult.) Ricker) is adapted to sandy arid areas of much of the western USA and is a highly desirable species on winter range sites. Seed is typically highly dormant. Mechanical dormancy has been reduced by mechanical and sulfuric acid scarification, and physiological dormancy has been reduced with stratification, giberellic acid, and kinetin. A better understanding of the relationship between mechanical and physiological dormancy may lead to a practical procedure for breaking dormancy in harvested seed. Alternatively, a better understanding of environmental factors on seed production may lead to production of already low dormancy seed. Establishment success will also depend on development of appropriate seedbed management practices for various soils. Reduction of the currently large shattering losses would have a favorable impact on the economics of Indian ricegrass seed production. An interdisciplinary approach including seed physiology, seedbed ecology, seed technology, and plant breeding can potentially solve these problems. The potential of seeding Indian ricegrass for improving rangelands can only be realised after low dormancy seed becomes available, appropriate seedbed management practices are developed, and seed shattering losses are reduced. This material was digitized as part of a cooperative project between the Society for Range Management and the University of Arizona Libraries. The Journal of Range Management archives are made available by the Society for Range Management and the University of Arizona Libraries. Contact lbry-journals@email.arizona.edu for further information. Migrated from OJS platform August 2020
Scholarly peer-reviewed articles published by the Society for Range Management. Access articles on a rolling-window basis from vol. 1, 1948 up to 5 years from the current year. Formerly Journal of Range Management (JRM). More recent content is available by subscription from SRM.