Presenter Information

Gerhard Keller-Grein, CIAT

Publication Date

1993

Location

New Zealand

Description

As part of the search for new forage germplasm options for cleared­forest ecosystems in the humid tropics of South America, a small­plot clipping trial was conducted with 128 accessions of Centrosema macrocarpum near Pucallpa, Peru. Most of the accessions showed good adaptation to an acid ultisol with a high Al level (pH 4.4, 81% Al saturation), Considerable variation was detected among accessions for the agronomic attributes studied. On the basis of seasonal dry matter production and seed yield, the germplasm tested was classified into 8 cluster groups. All accessions proved to have a high level of pest and disease tolerance and most of them performed remarkably well during the low-rainfall period, Three groups of accessions have been identified which exhibited intermediate to high dry-matter yields in combination with good seed production.

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Agronomic Evaluation of Centrosema Germplasm on an Acid Utisol in the Humid Tropics of Peru. I. Centrosema macrocarpum Benth.

New Zealand

As part of the search for new forage germplasm options for cleared­forest ecosystems in the humid tropics of South America, a small­plot clipping trial was conducted with 128 accessions of Centrosema macrocarpum near Pucallpa, Peru. Most of the accessions showed good adaptation to an acid ultisol with a high Al level (pH 4.4, 81% Al saturation), Considerable variation was detected among accessions for the agronomic attributes studied. On the basis of seasonal dry matter production and seed yield, the germplasm tested was classified into 8 cluster groups. All accessions proved to have a high level of pest and disease tolerance and most of them performed remarkably well during the low-rainfall period, Three groups of accessions have been identified which exhibited intermediate to high dry-matter yields in combination with good seed production.