Lucerne and other perennial legumes provide new options for rain fed livestock production in the Mediterranean-climate region of Chile

In dryland Mediterranean environments, the productivity of annual legumes is low during autumn and winter, with plant senescence typically beginning by the middle of spring because of low soil water availability. Therefore, the use of deep-rooted perennial legumes may provide an alternative to annua...

Descripción completa

Guardado en:
Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Ovalle,Carlos, Espinoza,Soledad, Barahona,Viviana, Gerding,Macarena, Humphries,Alan, del Pozo,Alejandro
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. Facultad de Agronomía e Ingeniería Forestal 2015
Materias:
Acceso en línea:http://www.scielo.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0718-16202015000300014
Etiquetas: Agregar Etiqueta
Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!
id oai:scielo:S0718-16202015000300014
record_format dspace
spelling oai:scielo:S0718-162020150003000142016-03-15Lucerne and other perennial legumes provide new options for rain fed livestock production in the Mediterranean-climate region of ChileOvalle,CarlosEspinoza,SoledadBarahona,VivianaGerding,MacarenaHumphries,Alandel Pozo,Alejandro Dryland lucerne perennial legumes Mediterranean pastures In dryland Mediterranean environments, the productivity of annual legumes is low during autumn and winter, with plant senescence typically beginning by the middle of spring because of low soil water availability. Therefore, the use of deep-rooted perennial legumes may provide an alternative to annual legumes in regions with a soil moisture déficit. We evaluated the germplasm of new perennial legumes with deep rooting systems in two field experiments in the interior drylands of central Chile. In experiment 1, sixteen genotypes of four perennial legume species, nine cultivars (cvs.) of Medicago sativa, two of Hedysarum coronarium, three of Lotus tenuis, and two of Lotus corniculatus were evaluated for three seasons (2012-2014). In experiment 2, eight additional genotypes from two perennial legume species (M. sativa and H. coronarium) were evaluated between 2013 and 2015. Additionally, sixteen cultivars and accessions of M. sativa were evaluated in raised beds, with nine from Australia, two from Spain, two from California and three of Andean origin. We evaluated plant survival, nodulation, plant height at the end of the winter period and temporal distribution of biomass production. The persistence of M. sativa cultivars was high (over 80% survival after three years), but only the lucerne produced high yields (8-11 Mg ha-1 in the third season). Significant differences for winter production were detected among the lucerne cultivars, associated with their winter activity class, but no differences were found in total biomass production. The persistence of L. tenuis, L. corniculatus and H. coronarium was poor, and the biomass production was low, most likely because rhizobia failed to persist. Based on these preliminary results on perennial legumes, lucerne has great potential as a forage crop in the interior drylands of central Chile. However, more research on rhizobial strains, nodulation, plant growth and biomass accumulation, and root distribution and water use, among other factors, is required to better understand the persistence of perennial legumes in rain fed environments.info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessPontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. Facultad de Agronomía e Ingeniería ForestalCiencia e investigación agraria v.42 n.3 20152015-12-01text/htmlhttp://www.scielo.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0718-16202015000300014en10.4067/S0718-16202015000300014
institution Scielo Chile
collection Scielo Chile
language English
topic Dryland lucerne
perennial legumes
Mediterranean pastures
spellingShingle Dryland lucerne
perennial legumes
Mediterranean pastures
Ovalle,Carlos
Espinoza,Soledad
Barahona,Viviana
Gerding,Macarena
Humphries,Alan
del Pozo,Alejandro
Lucerne and other perennial legumes provide new options for rain fed livestock production in the Mediterranean-climate region of Chile
description In dryland Mediterranean environments, the productivity of annual legumes is low during autumn and winter, with plant senescence typically beginning by the middle of spring because of low soil water availability. Therefore, the use of deep-rooted perennial legumes may provide an alternative to annual legumes in regions with a soil moisture déficit. We evaluated the germplasm of new perennial legumes with deep rooting systems in two field experiments in the interior drylands of central Chile. In experiment 1, sixteen genotypes of four perennial legume species, nine cultivars (cvs.) of Medicago sativa, two of Hedysarum coronarium, three of Lotus tenuis, and two of Lotus corniculatus were evaluated for three seasons (2012-2014). In experiment 2, eight additional genotypes from two perennial legume species (M. sativa and H. coronarium) were evaluated between 2013 and 2015. Additionally, sixteen cultivars and accessions of M. sativa were evaluated in raised beds, with nine from Australia, two from Spain, two from California and three of Andean origin. We evaluated plant survival, nodulation, plant height at the end of the winter period and temporal distribution of biomass production. The persistence of M. sativa cultivars was high (over 80% survival after three years), but only the lucerne produced high yields (8-11 Mg ha-1 in the third season). Significant differences for winter production were detected among the lucerne cultivars, associated with their winter activity class, but no differences were found in total biomass production. The persistence of L. tenuis, L. corniculatus and H. coronarium was poor, and the biomass production was low, most likely because rhizobia failed to persist. Based on these preliminary results on perennial legumes, lucerne has great potential as a forage crop in the interior drylands of central Chile. However, more research on rhizobial strains, nodulation, plant growth and biomass accumulation, and root distribution and water use, among other factors, is required to better understand the persistence of perennial legumes in rain fed environments.
author Ovalle,Carlos
Espinoza,Soledad
Barahona,Viviana
Gerding,Macarena
Humphries,Alan
del Pozo,Alejandro
author_facet Ovalle,Carlos
Espinoza,Soledad
Barahona,Viviana
Gerding,Macarena
Humphries,Alan
del Pozo,Alejandro
author_sort Ovalle,Carlos
title Lucerne and other perennial legumes provide new options for rain fed livestock production in the Mediterranean-climate region of Chile
title_short Lucerne and other perennial legumes provide new options for rain fed livestock production in the Mediterranean-climate region of Chile
title_full Lucerne and other perennial legumes provide new options for rain fed livestock production in the Mediterranean-climate region of Chile
title_fullStr Lucerne and other perennial legumes provide new options for rain fed livestock production in the Mediterranean-climate region of Chile
title_full_unstemmed Lucerne and other perennial legumes provide new options for rain fed livestock production in the Mediterranean-climate region of Chile
title_sort lucerne and other perennial legumes provide new options for rain fed livestock production in the mediterranean-climate region of chile
publisher Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. Facultad de Agronomía e Ingeniería Forestal
publishDate 2015
url http://www.scielo.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0718-16202015000300014
work_keys_str_mv AT ovallecarlos lucerneandotherperenniallegumesprovidenewoptionsforrainfedlivestockproductioninthemediterraneanclimateregionofchile
AT espinozasoledad lucerneandotherperenniallegumesprovidenewoptionsforrainfedlivestockproductioninthemediterraneanclimateregionofchile
AT barahonaviviana lucerneandotherperenniallegumesprovidenewoptionsforrainfedlivestockproductioninthemediterraneanclimateregionofchile
AT gerdingmacarena lucerneandotherperenniallegumesprovidenewoptionsforrainfedlivestockproductioninthemediterraneanclimateregionofchile
AT humphriesalan lucerneandotherperenniallegumesprovidenewoptionsforrainfedlivestockproductioninthemediterraneanclimateregionofchile
AT delpozoalejandro lucerneandotherperenniallegumesprovidenewoptionsforrainfedlivestockproductioninthemediterraneanclimateregionofchile
_version_ 1714202167282237440