IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jagris/v8y2018i10p152-d173372.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Comparison between Different Rotary Mowing Systems: Testing a New Method to Calculate Turfgrass Mowing Quality

Author

Listed:
  • Michel Pirchio

    (Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Pisa, 56124 Pisa, Italy)

  • Marco Fontanelli

    (Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Pisa, 56124 Pisa, Italy)

  • Fabio Labanca

    (Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Pisa, 56124 Pisa, Italy)

  • Christian Frasconi

    (Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Pisa, 56124 Pisa, Italy)

  • Luisa Martelloni

    (Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Pisa, 56124 Pisa, Italy)

  • Michele Raffaelli

    (Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Pisa, 56124 Pisa, Italy)

  • Andrea Peruzzi

    (Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Pisa, 56124 Pisa, Italy)

  • Monica Gaetani

    (Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Pisa, 56124 Pisa, Italy)

  • Simone Magni

    (Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Pisa, 56124 Pisa, Italy)

  • Lisa Caturegli

    (Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Pisa, 56124 Pisa, Italy)

  • Marco Volterrani

    (Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Pisa, 56124 Pisa, Italy)

  • Nicola Grossi

    (Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Pisa, 56124 Pisa, Italy)

Abstract

Poor quality in turfgrass mowing is highlighted by the shredded leaf tips with necrotic tissues that give an unsightly brownish colour to the turf and may also lead to turf disease. Mowing quality is also typically assessed by visual rating, thus the score depends on the person doing the assessment. To make the evaluation of mowing quality not subjective, an innovative method was developed. The aim of the trial was to examine the effects of different mowing systems and two different nitrogen rates (100 and 200 kg ha −1 ) on two turfgrass species in order to test the new mowing quality calculation. Three different mowing systems were used: a battery-powered rotary mower set at 3000 rpm and 5000 rpm respectively and a gasoline-powered rotary mower set at full throttle. The battery-powered mower at low blade rpm produced a poorer mowing quality and turf quality than the gasoline-powered mower and battery-powered mower at high rpm, which produced a similar mowing quality and turf quality. Leaf tip damage level values showed a significant correlation with the results of the visual mowing quality assessment. Lower leaf tip damage level values (slightly above 1) corresponded to higher visual mowing quality scores (around 8).

Suggested Citation

  • Michel Pirchio & Marco Fontanelli & Fabio Labanca & Christian Frasconi & Luisa Martelloni & Michele Raffaelli & Andrea Peruzzi & Monica Gaetani & Simone Magni & Lisa Caturegli & Marco Volterrani & Nic, 2018. "Comparison between Different Rotary Mowing Systems: Testing a New Method to Calculate Turfgrass Mowing Quality," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 8(10), pages 1-11, October.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jagris:v:8:y:2018:i:10:p:152-:d:173372
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/8/10/152/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/8/10/152/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jagris:v:8:y:2018:i:10:p:152-:d:173372. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.