Publication Date
1989
Description
Despite the importance of annual pasture legumes to the farming systems of southern Australia and efforts to select appropriate species and varieties (Cocks et al., 1980), well adapted pasture legumes have not been identified for all situations. A particular need exists for species and varieties suited to light surface textured, acid soils in areas receiving between 250 -400 mm of rainfall annually. Soils of this general description are widespread in Western Austrafo, .. Subterranean clover performs well on similar soils where they occur in higher rainfall zones but often fails to persist in arid areas, especially where frequent cereal cropping is part of the land use system (Ewing, 1983). Annual species of Medicago (medics) persist well in arid environments but sowing has been confined to neutral or alkaline soils. This distribution has been largely determined by the inability of commercially available strains of the medic symbiont, R. meliloti to survive under acid soil conditions (Robson, 1969). This work was undertaken to determine whether an annual medic might provide a persistent and productive legume component to pastures in the target environment. It was hypothesised that in addition to the selection of a species of medic adapted to this environment it would be necessary to select a strain of R. meliloti which combined specific effectiveness with that medic species and ability to survive in, and colonize, the acid soil.
Citation
Ewing, M A. and Howieson, J G., "The Development of Medicago polymorha L. as an Important Pasture Species for Southern Australia" (2025). IGC Proceedings (1989-2023). 5.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/igc/1989/session3/5
Included in
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The Development of Medicago polymorha L. as an Important Pasture Species for Southern Australia
Despite the importance of annual pasture legumes to the farming systems of southern Australia and efforts to select appropriate species and varieties (Cocks et al., 1980), well adapted pasture legumes have not been identified for all situations. A particular need exists for species and varieties suited to light surface textured, acid soils in areas receiving between 250 -400 mm of rainfall annually. Soils of this general description are widespread in Western Austrafo, .. Subterranean clover performs well on similar soils where they occur in higher rainfall zones but often fails to persist in arid areas, especially where frequent cereal cropping is part of the land use system (Ewing, 1983). Annual species of Medicago (medics) persist well in arid environments but sowing has been confined to neutral or alkaline soils. This distribution has been largely determined by the inability of commercially available strains of the medic symbiont, R. meliloti to survive under acid soil conditions (Robson, 1969). This work was undertaken to determine whether an annual medic might provide a persistent and productive legume component to pastures in the target environment. It was hypothesised that in addition to the selection of a species of medic adapted to this environment it would be necessary to select a strain of R. meliloti which combined specific effectiveness with that medic species and ability to survive in, and colonize, the acid soil.
