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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 47(2)

Perennial legumes native to Australia – a preliminary investigation of nutritive value and response to cutting

K. Robinson A , L. W. Bell A D , R. G. Bennett D , D. A. Henry B D , M. Tibbett C and M. H. Ryan A D E
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A School of Plant Biology M084, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia.

B CSIRO Livestock Industries, Centre for Environment and Life Sciences, Floreat, WA 6014, Australia.

C Centre for Land Rehabilitation, School of Earth and Geographical Sciences, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia.

D CRC for Plant-based Management of Dryland Salinity, University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia.

E Corresponding author. Email: megan.ryan@uwa.edu.au

Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 47(2) 170-176 https://doi.org/10.1071/EA06043
Submitted: 10 February 2006  Accepted: 12 June 2006   Published: 23 January 2007

Abstract

Six Australian native herbaceous perennial legumes (Lotus australis, Swainsona colutoides, Swainsona swainsonioides, Cullen tenax, Glycine tabacina and Kennedia prorepens) were assessed in the glasshouse for nutritive value, soluble condensed tannins and production of herbage in response to three cutting treatments (regrowth harvested every 4 and 6 weeks and plants left uncut for 12 weeks). The Mediterranean perennial legumes Medicago sativa and Lotus corniculatus were also included. Dry matter (DM) yield of some native legumes was comparable to L. corniculatus, but M. sativa produced more DM than all species except S. swainsonioides after 12 weeks of regrowth. Dry matter yield of all native legumes decreased with increased cutting frequency, indicating a susceptibility to frequent defoliation. Shoot in vitro dry matter digestibility (DMD) was high (>70%) in most native legumes, except G. tabacina (65%) and K. prorepens (55%). Crude protein ranged from 21–28% for all legumes except K. prorepens (12%). More frequent cutting resulted in higher DMD and crude protein in all species, except for the DMD of C. tenax and L. australis, which did not change. Concentrations of soluble condensed tannins were 2–9 g/kg DM in the Lotus spp., 10–18 g/kg DM in K. prorepens and negligible (<1 g/kg) in the other legumes. Of the native species, C. tenax, S. swainsonioides and L. australis showed the most promise for use as forage plants and further evaluation under field conditions is now warranted.

Additional keywords: forage quality, grazing.


Acknowledgements

We are particularly grateful to Elizabeth Hulm for her technical support with the nutritive value analyses as well as other staff at CSIRO Livestock Industries (Floreat), the CRC for Plant-based Management of Dryland Salinity and the Department of Agriculture, Medina, Western Australia. This project was primarily funded by a Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) Undergraduate Honours Scholarship to Katie Robinson. Megan Ryan was funded by GRDC and Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA).


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