It's Not Just Grass Anymore

Mississippi State research yields new bermudagrass varirties

By Bob Ratliff

MS-Choice, a new bermudagrass variety developed by MSU scientists, was sprigged onto Scott Field last summer.

When the football Bulldogs took to the field at home during the 1996 season, they literally were playing on their own turf. During the season, Scott Field was covered with MS-Choice, a turf-type bermudagrass developed by researchers at Mississippi State.

MS-Choice is one of three new bermudagrass varieties developed by Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station researchers and made available commercially during 1996.

The scientists who developed the new grasses include MAFES agronomists Jeff Krans and James Goatley and research assistants Wayne Philley, Mary Tomaso-Peterson, and Victor Maddox.

According to Philley, the new grass on Scott Field has qualities that make it a good choice for football fields and other areas where contact sports are played.

"MS-Choice has a high shoot density, giving the grass more of a cushioning effect than any other grass currently available," he says. "This should be the safest bermudagrass to play on when it reaches its full potential."

Checking progress of the new playing carpet are, from left, head football coach Jackie Sherrill, agronomist Jeff Krans, and research assistant Wayne Philley.

MS-Choice and the other two varieties, MS-Pride and MS-Express, were developed from 72 ecotypes collected from nonirrigated fairways at four golf courses in west-central Mississippi during a period of prolonged drought in 1980. The fairways were established with bermudagrass seed between 1913 and 1933.

"Ecotype selection is a breeding method that allows Mother Nature to do the work," Philley explains. "The breeder must determine which grasses best fit certain applications. The cultivars that resulted in the new MSU varieties tested quite favorably in turf trials conducted at 21 sites across the nation from 1986 through 1991."

All three of the grasses have been licensed by Mississippi State to the Mississippi Sod Producers Association, which pays the university a royalty from sales of the new varieties.

MS-Pride has been planted on the new women's softball field at Mississippi State and on state-owned golf courses and driving ranges throughout Mississippi. MS-Express has been planted on the front nine greens at the university's golf course and on all 18 greens at John Kyle State Park. [Note: The back nine greens at the Mississippi State Golf Course will be closed May 1-July 1, 1997, while MS-Express is being planted there.]

Two of the varieties, MS-Choice and MS-Pride, are recommended for use in home lawns. MS-Choice has two distinct characteristics many homeowners will appreciate.

"A MS-Choice lawn will have few if any seedheads, so pollen-sensitive people will be relieved to have a pollen-free lawn," says Krans. "Also, the dark green color of the variety will allow homeowners to apply less nitrogen. Fewer nitrogen fertilizations mean less mowing, a characteristic most homeowners will appreciate."

MS-Express is doing nicely on the front nine greens at the university golf course and will be planted on the back nine this spring.

The researchers who worked on development of the new varieties know they have three winners, but they also know that it will take time for the newcomers to gain acceptance.

"We know they will perform well, but the old standbys are well known," explains Krans. "There's no market unless you have something better, and we believe we have something better."

David Rainey with Rainey Sod Farm in Corinth agrees that it will take time to get a full evaluation of acceptance of the new grasses, but he likes what he saw during 1996.

"We have MS-Pride and MS-Choice out in several areas and both seem to work well," he says. "We had a lot of damage to some grasses during the winter of 1996, but the Mississippi State varieties came through in extremely good shape."

MAFES Director Vance Watson notes that the development of the new bermudagrass varieties is representative of the work of the MSU turfgrass management program, which is recognized nationally for its research and teaching.

"These new bermudagrass cultivars are an example of MAFES researchers' responding to the needs of all Mississippians," he says.