Caucasian clover responses to fertilizer, lime and rhizobia inoculation at Lake Heron station, Canterbury (original) (raw)
Related papers
Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, 1984
The response of white clover to addition of lime was studied in pots with an acid permanent grassland soil (pH 4.1), and a comparison made between a commercial cultivar (Blanca) and a white clover indigenous to the acid soil. The yield of both plants increased markedly with addition of lime, but the native genotype reached maximum yield at a lower pH. In both cases, however, only relatively small adjustments of pH were required to produce considerable increases in yield. The addition of lime reduced the amounts of A1 and Mn extracted by lhi ammonium acetate and 0 . 0 1~ CaC12, and increased exchangeable Ca. It was suggested that, although plant contents of Mn were high and those of Ca low, the effect of lime was not on the clover plant per se but on nodulation and the supply of N through symbiotic fixation. When no lime was added, both plants contained concentrations of N below that suggested as critical, and had only limited numbers of nodules on their roots. Excess A1 and/or Mn, or insufficient Ca may have been responsible for inhibition of nodulation at the low pH of the unlimed soil. Although the indigenous plant also grew poorly when no lime was added, it displayed a number of characteristics which may assist its performance and persistence under acid conditions in the field.
2008
This study compared the relative tolerances of subterranean clover (Trifolium subterraneum L.), balansa clover (T. michelianum Savi.), and gland clover (T. glanduliferum Boiss.) to acid soil conditions. Seed yield, seedling density, herbage production, N 2 fixation, and herbage mineral composition of the 3 legumes were assessed when grown on an acid soil (pH Ca of 4.3 and 15% exchangeable Al [0-0.10 m]) with and without the addition of lime (CaCO 3). Annual legume species were sown in a mixed sward together with burr medic (Medicago polymorpha L.), and in mixtures with either lucerne (Medicago sativa L.), chicory (Cichorium intybus L.), or phalaris (Phalaris aquatica L.). Due to drier than average seasonal conditions, none of the perennial species persisted beyond the first summer. Lime increased the herbage production of annual legumes by 18-22% and total pasture production by 14% in both 2002 and 2003. Subterranean clover was the most tolerant of the annual legumes to acid soil conditions, showing no visible toxicity symptoms and no response to lime in terms of seed yield. In contrast, both balansa and gland clovers exhibited visual symptoms of manganese toxicity in the absence of lime, with Mn concentrations in the shoots of 817 mg/kg and 626 mg/kg, respectively. Both species responded positively to lime with seed yields increasing by 45% and 124%, respectively. Lime increased the proportion of herbage N derived from N 2 fixation by subterranean clover from 29 to 40% and by gland clover from 30 to 43%. Lime had no effect on the proportion of N 2 fixed by balansa clover (29-31%), suggesting a suboptimal symbiosis of rhizobia with that species. Adding chicory or phalaris to the pasture mix increased sward herbage production in the establishment year by 39% and 21%, respectively. Based on leaf symptoms and herbage yield responses to lime, Mn toxicity was present in lucerne with tissue levels of up to 916 mg/kg, but no symptoms were observed in chicory (1129 mg/kg) or phalaris (403 mg/kg). Chicory and phalaris were more tolerant of acidity and high levels of Mn than lucerne, gland clover, and balansa clover. The study highlighted the value of the small-seeded annual legumes, balansa clover and gland clover, to the production of mixed pasture swards even in drier than average seasonal conditions. Although more sensitive to acid soils than subterranean clover, they set a greater number of seeds and, in the case of balansa clover, a greater weight of seed under moisture stress in the establishment year than the larger seeded subterranean clover.
Notulae Botanicae Horti Agrobotanici Cluj-Napoca, 2015
The legume's benefits are well-known and exploited in animal production systems, and the commercial availability of novel clover cultivars is an important opportunity for Mediterranean climatic areas. However, the successful performance of a legume species is strongly affected by the presence of specific rhizobia in the soil. The performances of 10 annual clover cultivars belonging to nine species, both uninoculated and inoculated, were compared at two locations in Sardinia (Italy). The rows (2 m length each) were established in autumn and seed inoculation with a selected commercial rhizobial strain was performed at sowing. In the following spring, shoot length, the number of root nodules, shoot dry matter yield and nitrogen concentration were determined on complete recovered plants. Inoculation affected shoot length, with significant differences at each site. It ranged from 7.9 to 39.7 cm. The average shoot DM production in the two locations ranged from 0.21 to 1.92 g per plant and there was a significant interaction of the location x cultivar. Inoculation significantly increased the growth of four cultivars. However, a cultivar selected in Sardinia, Trifolium brachycalycinum 'Antas', was irrespective of both location and inoculation, producing more shoot DM per plant than did the other clovers (about 1.80 g per plant). The results demonstrated that the clover agronomic performances differed among cultivars and locations. In addition, they highlighted that inoculation with a selected rhizobial strain is very useful for some clovers, suggesting that is preferable to ascertain at each site the need for clover inoculation.
Differences in Response to Available Phosphorus among White Clover Cultivars
Agronomy Journal, 1993
The selection of agriculturally important plant garmplasms more tolerant of low P may increase productivity on P deficient soils and reduce P fertilizer requirements. Differences in response to P availability among six cultivars of white clover (Trifolium repens L.) were investigated in a series of pot experiments using a sand-alumina culture technique and lwo low P soils, an acid Hapludult wltb 2.6 mg Bray.P kg -t and a calcareous Calciaquoll with 6.9 mg NaHCOfextractable P kg -I. Plants were grown in the greenhouse or growth chamber for up to 63 d in solution [P] of 0 to 82 pM. Plant characteristics measured included dry mass and P concentration of shoots, coarse roots, and fine roots; P distribution within the plant; and root traits of total length, root hair length and number per unit root surface area, and root tip number. There were significant differences in shoot dry mass and P accumulation response curves among cultivars; cultivar rankings were consistent in sand-alumina and in soils, but dlffeted from other reports in the literature. We found significant cultivarby-solution [P] interactions when only low vs. high P availabilities were compared, but not when response curves were generated and compared. Differences in herbage yield and P accumulation were associated with larger root systems, but there was no evidence of greater efficiency of P uptake or utilization in these cultivars.
Pasture yield responses to sulphur fertilisers in relation to nutrient ratios in white clover
New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research, 1998
The agronomic performance of triple superphosphate (TSP), superphosphate (SSP), 15%(15SS), 22%(22SS), 33%(33SS), 36%(36SS), and 50%(50SS) S superphosphate, TSP/S, di‐ammonium phosphate (DAP)/S, RPR (North Carolina phosphate rock/S), plus no S or P was measured over three years on a ryegrass/white clover sward near Dipton (mean annual rainfall 1020 mm) in Central Southland, New Zealand. These fertilisers were applied in November 1994,
Response of red clover to phosphorus fertilization
Cereal Research Communications, 2007
Red clover is a perennial legume, productive for 2 to 3 years. Maximum yields and the highest quality are realised in the second year of its life if the first cutting is done in early flowering (20%) and further cuttings about 45 days after the previous cut . Red clover is a highly adaptable species to various climatic conditions and soil types and therefore grows widely in numerous regions of the world . According to the FAO data (Statistical Databases, 2000), red clover totalled almost 2.5 million hectares in the world. Most frequently is sown at less intensively used soils with moderate wet and cold weather and shorter vegetation. These conditions are dominant in mountain parts of Croatia, which take 47% of state land area . The aim of the investigation was to evaluate the possibility to establish red clover at acid, potassium-poor and extremely phosphorous-poor soil of Croatian mountain region after several years of ameliorative fertilization with P 2 O 5 . Yield of hay and content of macro and microelements in plant dry matter were examined.
Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 2017
Grazing systems are a major producer of food and fibre across the world. These systems often require the addition of fertiliser phosphorus (P) for maximum pasture growth, and it is now estimated that a four-fold increase in the use of P fertiliser in grasslands is needed to meet increased food demand by the year 2050. However, the recovery of P from fertiliser is often inefficient and global issues associated with P scarcity will continue to worsen. Knowledge on the uptake of fertiliser P by grasslands, including the effect of agronomic management, remains incomplete under field conditions. The aim of this study was to quantify the effects of soil P fertility (across three levels of soil P fertility), time of fertiliser application (at one level of soil P fertility), and placement of fertiliser (at one level of soil P fertility) on the growth and uptake of fertiliser P by clover pastures during a growing season. Subterranean clover (Trifolium subterraneum L.) monocultures established at two field sites in Australia were used to test the growth response to, and recovery of: (i) early-season (autumn) additions of fertiliser P to the soil surface at three levels of soil P fertility; (ii) mid-season (late winter) additions of fertiliser P to the soil surface; and (iii) early-season additions of fertiliser P placed 6 cm below the soil surface. Fertiliser P was applied to the pastures as single superphosphate that was labelled with a 33 P radiotracer to supply ∼20 kg P ha −1. Total herbage yield and recovery of fertiliser P by the clover pastures was generally highest when fertiliser P was applied to the soil surface early in the growing season and to soils maintained at the optimum level of soil P fertility for maximum pasture growth. An audit of the 33 P recovery of fertiliser P in the clover pasture revealed that up to 50% of the fertiliser P was recovered by the clover plant (shoots and roots), 5-15% remained in the fertiliser granule, and 20-25% was recovered in the 0-4 cm soil layer (largely as inorganic P) by the end of the growing season. We demonstrate that clover pastures are able to recover a relatively large proportion of surface applied fertiliser P during a growing season. Surface application is the simplest and most cost-effective strategy for management of fertiliser P in pastures.