Future farming with profitable perennialsTM
Perennial Legume Forages For a Dry Mediterranean Climate (FP11)
The project team is undertaking breeding and selection within three key genera (Tedera, Cullen and Medicago) and will advance elite material to a stage suitable for commercialisation. Desirable characteristics include drought tolerance (over the dry summer period), adaptation to marginal cropping soils (chemical and physical soil constraints) and ease of pasture establishment. The project will also field test a group of novel species for their potential adaptation to target environment and feasibility studies for future domestication. Objective:
ActivitiesSpaced plant nurseries of Tedera (Bituminaria sp) have been successfully established across the mixed-farming (wheat-sheep) region of Western Australia. The species’ remarkable drought tolerance was confirmed with most accessions surviving the dry summer period with strong retention of green leaf. Sites will be grazed with assessments of productivity taken before and after grazing. Glasshouse screening for aphid tolerance has commenced with variation evident for resistance to blue-green aphid. Field nursery sites of wild lucerne germplasm (Medicago sp.) were established across South Australia and NSW to assess grazing tolerance. Glasshouse screening for aphid resistance has commenced and useful resistance to blue-green aphid and spotted alfalfa aphid has been identified. Resistant plants will be crossed to develop dual aphid resistance lines for further hybridisation with elite field selected plants. Genetic diversity within the Australian native species Cullen australasicum is being evaluated at the Waite Institute, Adelaide, South Australia. The trial will continue for at least two years to collect data on traits such as seasonal dry matter production, leafiness, flowering intensity and seed production. Ten row nursery sites have been established across Western Australia, South Australia, New South Wales and Victoria to gather information on the soil and climatic adaptation of a range of perennial legumes. Species included representatives of the Lessertia, Lotononis, Cullen, Macroptilium and Bituminaria genus and were sown in replicated 1 m rows. Data is being collected on germination, seedling survival and herbage production. For more information, email project leader, Dr Daniel Real. |
The Perennial Legumes project is developing, through new plant discovery and adaptation of existing species, resilient perennial forage legume cultivars compatible with crop and livestock systems in the low and medium rainfall (<500 mm annual rainfall) mediterranean regions of southern Australia. Products developed by this project will create new opportunities for integration into mixed cropping and grazing systems at the paddock and farm level, either as components of permanent pasture, short term phase pastures or pasture cropping (overcrop) systems. 
