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Selecting suitable pasture legume species as fodder crops for the central wheatbelt of southwest Western Australia

Anyou Liu1, Richard Snowball2, Clinton Revell2 and Bradley Nutt2

1 Centre for Cropping Systems, Department of Agriculture Western Australia, PO Box 483, Northam, WA 6401. www.agric.gov.au
Email aliu@agric.wa.gov.au
2
Pasture Science, Animal Industries, Department of Agriculture Western Australia, Locked Bag 4, Bentley Delivery Centre, WA
6983. www.agric.gov.au Email rsnowball@agric.wa.gov.au, crevell@agric.wa.gov.au, bnutt@agric.wa.gov.au

Abstract

Twenty six lines and varieties from 19 different species of annual pasture legumes were compared in a field trial near Brookton, Western Australia, in 2003 for their potential to be used as fodder crops. Characters considered included visual growth score, biomass production early and late in the season, flowering time, the ability to maintain green late in the season and tolerance to water stress. Although a dry season restricted herbage production, most new lines included in the trial failed to reach the production levels of the commercialised lines used as controls. French serradella (cv Cadiz), crimson clover (cv Caprera), and some lines from T. dasyurum, T. hirtum, and T. purpureum were amongst the best performing lines. Simple correlations showed that early vigour as indicated by a visual score and early biomass production was closely related to biomass production late in the season. However, time of flowering, water stress tolerance and the ability to maintain greenness late in the season showed little relationship with biomass production under the conditions experienced at the site.

Media summary

Pasture legumes vary widely in their potential to be used as fodder crops as revealed by a field screening of 26 lines from 19 different species.

Key Words

Fodder crop, pasture legumes, farming system.

Introduction

High value fodder crops provide farmers with a capacity to diversify their production systems and are an integral part of strategies to intensify animal production. Recent history has seen a steady increase in fodder production in Australia (Stubbs, 2000). Legume based fodder production systems can also play important roles in the integrated management of weeds, improvement of soil fertility, efficient use of water and nutrients, and better management of pastures (Evans, 1999, Doonan et al, 2003). In the last couple of years, a number of new annual pasture legume species with the potential as fodder crops have been commercialised, although often the original purpose for the development of such species was not for them to be used as conserved fodder (Ewing, 1999). Furthermore, a large collection of genotypes has also been accumulated at the Genetic Resource Centre for Pasture Legumes for Acid Soils, but limited information is available on their potential as fodder crops in the wheatbelt environment of Western Australia. This poster will report the results from a screening trial on lines from species maintained by the Centre together with some commercialised varieties.

Methods

The site

The site was situated 10 km east of Brookton, Western Australia (32o22’20’’S, 117o00’42’’E). It has a brown-grey loamy soil and has been in permanent pasture for several years. At the beginning of the season, soil analysis indicated that it had 25 ppm of nitrate-N, 5 ppm of ammonium-N, 46 ppm of P (Colwell), 108 ppm of K, 1.2% of organic-C, 803 ppm of Fe and a pH of 4.57. Soil conductivity was 0.110 dS/m. The long-term average rainfall for Brookton is 451 mm (358 mm May-Oct), and rainfall in 2003 on the farm where the trial was conducted was 362 mm (287 mm, May-Oct).

Treatment and design

Twenty six lines/varieties from 19 different species were tested at the site, which included two commercialised varieties as controls (Table 1). A Latinised alpha design was used with three replicates. Plots were 2 m by 3 m in size and the seeds were sown on 29 & 30 May 2003 to around 1.5 cm deep in three separate rows for the convenience of weed control. Two hundreds kilograms of superphosphate plus muriate of potash (1:1) per hectare was applied to the site a couple of months before the soil samples were taken. Biomass was estimated through cutting a 25 cm by 50 cm quadrat and oven-dried at 60oC for more then 2 days.

Statistical analysis

Statistical analysis of variance was conducted using GenStat (Release 6.1, Lawes Agricultural Trust).

Table 1. Species and lines used in the trial and their basic background information.

Species

Accession/varieties

Country of origin

Site rainfall

Collection site soil & pH

Trifolium angustifolium

140751

Greece (Lesvos)

600 mm

 

T. arvense

S3588ARV

Italy (Sicily)

500 mm

brown black silty loam, 7.5

T. berytheum

86671

Israel

   

T. dasyurum

GCN39

Greece (Naxos)

550 mm

light brown sandy loam, 7.0

T. dasyurum

124545

Turkey (Adiyaman)

550 mm

valley top and small hillside, 9.0

T. dasyurum

141070

Jordan (Irbid)

500 mm

 

T. dichroanthum

34549

Israel (Sharon Plain)

 

sandy loam

T. diffusum

13589

     

T. echinatum

87231

Israel (donor)

   

T. hirtum

140845

Turkey (Icel)

450 mm

red redzina, 8.5

T. hirtum

139164

Greece (Mykonos)

450 mm

grey clay loam, 9.0

T. incarnatum

S3352MOL-A

Italy (Sicily)

600 mm

silty brown black, 6.5

T. incarnatum

Caprera

Italy (Sardinia)cultivar

   

T. michelianum

98GRC7MIC

Greece (Lemnos)

400 mm

dark brown sandy loam, 6.0

T. nigrescens

139204

Greece (Mykonos)

450 mm

grey-brown sandy loam, 6.5

T. palaestinum

28416

     

T. palaestinum

ISR63-198.y

Israel (Sharon Plain)

   

T. pallidum

139888

Turkey (Aydin)

 

yellow brown clay loam, 8.5

T. resupinatum

27376-1B

Portugal (donor)

   

T. resupinatum

132812

America/US

   

T. squarrosum

N2669

     

T. vavilovii

86743

Israel (Afula)

   

T. purpureum

CIZ12PUR-A.early24/98

Turkey (Manisa)

 

brown sandy loam

T. purpureum

32835

Israel (donor)

   

T. vesiculosum1

Cefalu, control

cultivar

   

Ornithopus sativus1

Cadiz, control

South Africa

400 mm

gritty sand, 6.0

1Control species repeated three times within each replicate

Results

The site did not enjoy a favourable season during 2003. Dry conditions after seeding and during spring restricted plant growth. However, most species managed to produce a reasonable amount of biomass.

There were wide variations among species in biomass production, flowering time, and tolerance to water stress late in the season (Table 2). Species with highly productive lines included T. hirtum, T. purpureum, T. dasyurum, and the two commercial varieties (French serradella, Ornithopus sativus cv Cadiz, and crimson clover, T. incarnatum cv Caprera). Significant differences between lines within the same species were also observed.

Simple correlations between characteristics examined revealed that the visual growth score early in the season is a good indicator for biomass production (r2 = 0.6339** for the cut on 15 Sep 03, n=28) and early growth (vigour) is closely related to the performance at the 2nd cut (13 Oct 03, r2 = 0.7386**, n=28). Flowering time, water stress score and greenness at the end of season did not appear to bear a significant relationship with biomass production under the trial conditions.

Conclusion

Species vary significantly in their biomass production, from 207 kg/ha in mid September to 3825 kg/ha in mid October. There was also considerable variation amongst lines within the same species, indicating the importance of sourcing a wide germplasm base for this type of evaluation. It appears that under short-season conditions early vigour is an important trait to be considered. The lack of a relationship between biomass production and the ability to withstand drought conditions or a capacity to maintain greenness at the end of the season could have been due to differences in the shoot/root partitioning of some lines, or the specific circumstances where the trial was conducted and needs to be clarified in further trials.

Acknowledgment

National Annual Pasture Legume Improvement Program (NAPLIP), Centre for Legumes in Mediterranean Agriculture (CLIMA) & Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation (RIRDC) for financial support, Giles Glasson and Kris Gajda for technical support, Mario D’Antuono for help on experimental design and statistical analysis, Brett Whittington for providing the trial site.

Table 2. Major characteristics examined in the species/lines.

Species

Lines/varieties

Growth score1
10/09/03

Biomass
15/09/03
(kg/ha)

Biomass
13/10/03
(kg/ha)

Flowering (%) as on
15/09/03

Water stress2
03/10/03

Late-season greenness3
13/11/03

Trifolium angustifolium

140751

2.7

593

2376

2

1.2

0.7

T. arvense

S3588ARV

3.5

620

1892

 

1.0

4.3

T. berytheum

86671

2.0

207

776

 

2.0

1.0

T. dasyurum

GCN39

4.0

611

2703

100

2.0

0.0

T. dasyurum

124545

1.7

311

906

 

1.3

0.0

T. dasyurum

141070

3.3

798

2924

100

1.7

1.0

T. dichroanthum

34549

3.0

651

2205

 

1.7

2.8

T. diffusum

13589

3.2

716

1302

 

2.7

4.7

T. echinatum

87231

3.7

677

1987

13

2.7

1.0

T. hirtum

140845

1.8

529

1728

 

1.0

3.0

T. hirtum

139164

4.0

1680

3825

2

1.7

0.7

T. incarnatum

S3352MOL-A

2.5

583

1280

 

2.3

1.0

T. incarnatum

Caprera

4.8

1068

3378

 

3.8

1.0

T. michelianum

98GRC7MIC

2.8

594

1485

53

2.0

0.0

T. nigrescens

139204

2.8

561

996

100

1.7

0.3

T. palaestinum

28416

1.7

420

1739

 

1.3

0.3

T. palaestinum

ISR63-198.y

1.2

277

906

 

1.3

0.7

T. pallidum

139888

3.2

554

1281

 

4.3

2.3

T. resupinatum

27376-1B

2.5

420

869

93

2.0

0.0

T. resupinatum

132812

3.2

460

1018

3

2.0

1.7

T. squarrosum

N2669

1.7

350

711

 

3.0

0.3

T. vavilovii

86743

3.3

602

1805

93

1.7

0.0

T. purpureum

CIZ12PUR-A.early24/98

2.2

331

1826

5

1.7

2.5

T. purpureum

32835

4.7

996

3530

18

1.2

1.7

T. vesiculosum

Cefalu (control)

2.5

400

1324

 

1.6

3.3

Ornithopus sativus

Cadiz (control)

4.6

971

3140

100

1.0

2.8

               

LSD (P=0.05)

(variety vs control)

0.95

302

519

9.3

0.85

1.35

1Growth score, visual assessment from 1 (low) to 5 (high), based on the bulk of plant material presented
2
Water stress score: 1 no obvious symptom, to 5 worst when most plants wilted.
3
Greenness score: 0=senesced, 5=60% green.

References

Doonan BM, Kaiser AG, Stanley DF, Blackwood IF, Piltz JW, and White AK (2003). Silage in the farming system. In ‘Successful Silage _ Chapter 1’. (Ed. A. G. Kaiser, J. W. Piltz, H. M. Burns, N. W. Griffiths) (DRDC and NSW Agriculture)

Evans J (1999). Economic and biological benefits of forage legumes for wheat production on acidic soils of SE Australia. GRDC project (DAN 318) report. www.grdc.com.au/growers/res_summ/Eureka/DAN318.htm

Ewing MA (1999). New pasture species. In ‘Proceedings of the 11th Australian Plant Breeding Conference’ (Ed. P. Langridge, A. Barr, G. Auricht, G. Collins, A. Grainger, D. Handford and J. Paull) Vol. 1, pp. 86-90. (CRC for Molecular Plant Breeding, University of Adelaide).

Stubbs A. (2000). Atlas of the Australian Fodder Industry: outline of production and trade. RIRDC Publication No. 00/122.

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