Track 1-03: Development and Impact of Sown Temperate Species
Description
Lotus corniculatus, the main cultivated forage legume in Uruguay since the sixties, is well adapted to soils with low P availability and pH where alfalfa has restricted growth. Local landraces are potential sources of valuable genes that could benefit the farming community. Traditionally farmers harvested their own seed through many generations in the southwest (Garcia et al. 1991), where sown pastures were rotated with cereals. These local landraces were conserved in situ in the past, but ley-farming systems have been substituted for continuous soybean cropping in recent years. INIA collected 110 samples for ex situ conservation with proper passport information (eg. genetic origin, years of multiplication, cultural practices) from farmers’ harvests during 1999 (Rebuffo et al. 2005) and 2006.
This work outlines the variability of landraces for forage production and their relationship to the cultivars of origin.
Included in
Characterization of Landraces of Lotus corniculatus L. in Uruguay
Lotus corniculatus, the main cultivated forage legume in Uruguay since the sixties, is well adapted to soils with low P availability and pH where alfalfa has restricted growth. Local landraces are potential sources of valuable genes that could benefit the farming community. Traditionally farmers harvested their own seed through many generations in the southwest (Garcia et al. 1991), where sown pastures were rotated with cereals. These local landraces were conserved in situ in the past, but ley-farming systems have been substituted for continuous soybean cropping in recent years. INIA collected 110 samples for ex situ conservation with proper passport information (eg. genetic origin, years of multiplication, cultural practices) from farmers’ harvests during 1999 (Rebuffo et al. 2005) and 2006.
This work outlines the variability of landraces for forage production and their relationship to the cultivars of origin.
