Effect of gypsum on establishment, persistence and productivity of lucerne and annual pasture legumes on two grey Vertosols in southern New South Wales
B. S. Dear A D , M. B. Peoples B , R. C. Hayes A , A. D. Swan B , K. Y. Chan A , A. A. Oates A , S. G. Morris C and B. A. Orchard AA E H Graham Centre for Agricultural Innovation (Industry and Investment NSW and Charles Sturt University), Wagga Wagga Agricultural Institute, PMB, Wagga Wagga, NSW 2650, Australia.
B CSIRO Plant Industry, GPO Box 1600, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia.
C Industry and Investment NSW, Wollongbar Agricultural Institute, Wollongbar, NSW 2477, Australia.
D Corresponding author. Email: brian.dear@industry.nsw.gov.au
Crop and Pasture Science 61(6) 435-449 https://doi.org/10.1071/CP09344
Submitted: 2 December 2009 Accepted: 23 April 2010 Published: 1 June 2010
Abstract
Changes in pasture yield and botanical composition due to gypsum application were examined on Vertosols at two locations of differing soil sodicity, Grogan and Morangarell, in southern New South Wales. Two pasture treatments were examined. One was an annual pasture comprised of 3 annual legumes (2 subterranean clover Trifolium subterraneum L. cultivars, Clare and Riverina, and balansa clover T. michelianum Savi cv. Paradana), while the second treatment consisted of lucerne (Medicago sativa L.) cv. Aquarius sown in a mixture with the same annual legumes.
Gypsum had no effect on the establishment or persistence of lucerne at either site. Gypsum increased the number of subterranean clover seedlings present in autumn in annual swards at the more sodic Grogan site in each of the 4 years, but provided no difference when the clover was in a mixture with lucerne. Annual legume seed yields in annual-only swards increased with gypsum by up to 58% at Grogan and 38% at Morangarell. Seed yields of both cultivars of subterranean clover declined as a proportion of the total annual legume seed bank when lucerne was included in the mixture, in contrast to balansa clover (at Grogan) and the naturalised annual legumes, burr medic (M. polymorpha L.) and woolly clover (T. tomentosum L.), which all increased in relative seed yield in the presence of lucerne.
Total pasture production at the Grogan site increased with gypsum by up to 15% per annum in annual swards and 36% in lucerne swards depending on the season. Yield responses to gypsum by the lucerne component were observed in 10 of the 13 seasonal yield measurements taken at Grogan. However, total pasture yield and seasonal yields were unaffected by both gypsum and pasture type at the less sodic Morangarell site. It was concluded that sowing a diverse mixture of annual legumes or polycultures was conducive to maintaining productive pastures on these spatially variable soils.
Lucerne dried the soil profile (0.15–1.15 m) more than annual pastures at both sites. The combination of gypsum and lucerne enhanced water extraction at depth (0.6–1.15 m) at the Grogan site increasing the size of the dry soil buffer whereas gypsum increased soil water at depth (>0.6 m) under annual swards.
Additional keywords: balansa clover, burr medic, false break, gypsum, polycultures, seed size, seed yield, sodic soils, subterranean clover, woolly clover.
Acknowledgments
The project arose from discussions with the Grogan and Morangarell Landcare Groups. The authors wish to thank Mr Alan Mattiske at ‘Geralda’ and Mr Chris McRae at ‘Merrin Green’ for generously providing land used in the experiments and sheep for grazing the plots. The project was financially supported by the Grains Research and Development Corporation, CSIRO and Industry and Investment NSW. Mr R. Gault was instrumental in the setting up of the field program and Mr G. Sandral assisted with the initial field measurements.
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