Performance of temperate and subtropical forage legumes when over-seeding native pastures in the basaltic region of Uruguay
D. Real A D , C. A. Labandera B and J. G. Howieson CA National Agricultural Research Institute, Ruta 5 km 386, Tacuarembó, Uruguay.
B Rhizobium–Biological Nitrogen Fixation Unit, Soil Microbiology Department of the Ministry of Livestock, Agriculture and Fisheries, Burgues 3208, Montevideo, Uruguay.
C Centre for Rhizobium Studies, Division of Science, Murdoch University, South Street, Murdoch, WA 6150, Australia.
D Corresponding author. Email: dreal@inia.org.uy
Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 45(3) 279-287 https://doi.org/10.1071/EA03131
Submitted: 26 June 2003 Accepted: 5 April 2004 Published: 14 April 2005
Abstract
In 1997, an integrated plant breeding program was initiated at the National Agricultural Research Institute (INIA) Uruguay, to develop forage legumes and root nodule bacteria which were able to be productive in co-existence with the native (grass-dominant) vegetation when grazed by cattle and sheep. The program was conducted in parallel with rhizobial strain selection by the Rhizobium–Biological Nitrogen Fixation Unit of the Soil Microbiology Department of the Ministry of Livestock, Agriculture and Fisheries of Uruguay and the Centre for Rhizobium Studies (CRS), Murdoch University, Western Australia.
Between 1998 and 2000, 326 temperate and subtropical forage legume species originating from 38 ex-situ seed collections were evaluated in 3 plantings on: red lithosol, black lithosol and vertisol soils at Glencoe Research Station in Uruguay. Row–column field designs were used. Forage production at the end of the second year of evaluation was used as the key selection parameter for the introduced legumes because their success required persistence in the pasture either vegetatively or by natural reseeding. This study identified a set of promising legumes and strains of Rhizobium that are now available for further study and breeding in Uruguay as well as other countries with a similar climate. The methodology developed in this study may be applicable to forage selection programs in which competition between annual and perennial species is expected to influence outcomes.
Additional keywords: basaltic soil, BNF, rhizobium, acid soil, root nodule bacteria.
Acknowledgments
INIA would like to thank the following ex-situ germplasm holders for providing the forage legume seed samples: Desert Legume Program, The University of Arizona, USA; Margot Forde Forage Germplasm Centre, AgResearch, New Zealand; Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical, CIAT, Colombia; Range and Forage Institute, ARC, South Africa; International Livestock Research Institute, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas, ICARDA, Syria; Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, UK; Clover Collection, University of Kentucky, USA; USA Dairy Forage Research Center, USDA-ARS, USA; Australian Trifolium Genetic Resource Centre, WA, Australia; Junta de Extremadura, Conserjería de Agricultura y Comercio, Spain; Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research, IGER, Wales; National Agricultural Research Institute, INIA, Uruguay; Nordic Gene Bank, NGB, Sweden; Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden, Claremont, USA; Washington State University, Regional Plant Introduction Station, USDA-ARS, USA; Australian Tropical Forages Genetic Resource Centre, CSIRO, Australia; South Australian Research and Development Institute, SARDI, Australia; North Central Regional Plant Introduction Station, USDA-ARS, USA; Orto Botánico Dell’Universita, Siena, Italy; Agriculture Victoria Hamilton, Pastoral and Veterinary Institute, Australia; Orto Botánico, Pisa, Italy; Helsinki University Botanical Garden, Finland; Station D’Amélioration des Plantes Fourragères, INRA, Lusignan, France; Institut für Pflanzengenetik und Kulturpflanzenforschung, Gatersleben, Germany; Forstbotanischer Garten, Tharandt, Germany; ZE BotanischerGarten und Botanischer Museum, Berlin, Germany; Instituto de Botánica ‘Dr. Gonçalo Sampaio’, Porto, Portugal; Botanischer Garten, Kiel, Germany; Botanischer Garten der Technischen Universität Darmstadt, Germany; Universität Gesamthochschule Kassel, Germany; Plant Genetic Resources Conservation Unit, University of Georgia, USDA-ARS, USA; Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria, INTA Mercedes, Argentina; Universidad Federal de Rio Grande do Sul, UFRGS, Brasil; University of Missouri, USDA-ARS, USA; Facultad de Agronomía, Universidad de la República, Uruguay; Fazenda Alqueire, Porto Alegre, Brasil; and the Bundesanstalt für Züchtungsforschung an Kulturpflanzaen, BAZ, Germany.
We also acknowledge CSIRO Australia, the WSM genebank, CRS, Perth, Western Australia, and the Agricultural Research Council, South Africa, for the rhizobial strains used in the project .
The authors thank: the Head of the Pasture Program of INIA, Mr D. F. Risso, and the previous and current directors of INIA Tacuarembó (Drs C. Paolino and E. J. Berretta) for their ongoing support; the technicians Mr M. Zarza, Mr R. Mérola and Ms A. Viana for their assistance in the field work; the rhizobiologists Mrs E. Beyhaut, Mr M. Jaurena and Mr R. Yates; as well as Dr J. Crossa (CIMMYT), Dr J. Franco (Faculty of Agronomy, Uruguay) and Mr V. Ibañez (INIA) for their statistical advice.
Gilmour AR,
Cullis BR, Verbyla AP
(1997) Accounting for natural and extraneous variation in the analysis of field experiments. Journal of Agricultural, Biological and Environmental Statistics 2, 269–293.
Howieson JG,
O’Hara GW, Carr SJ
(2000) Changing roles for legumes in Mediterranean agriculture: developments from an Australian perspective. Field Crops Research 65, 107–122.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Loi A,
Howieson JG,
Nutt BJ, Carr SJ
(2005) A second generation of annual pasture legumes and their potential for inclusion in Mediterranean-type farming systems. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 45, 289–299.
Nguyen NK, Williams ER
(1993) An algorithm for constructing optimal resolvable row–column designs. The Australian Journal of Statistics 35, 363–370.
Yates RJ,
Howieson JG,
Real D,
Reeve WG,
Vivas-Marfisi A, O’Hara GW
(2005) Evidence of selection for effective nodulation in the Trifolium spp. symbiosis with Rhizobium leguminosarum biovar trifolii. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 45, 189–198.
