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Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Keywords

Ornithopus, Variety trials, Production possibilities, Sandy soils, Acid soils, Esperance (W.A.), Western Australia

Disciplines

Agronomy and Crop Sciences | Soil Science

First Page Number

18

Last Page Number

21

ISSN

0021-8618

Abstract

Yellow serradells is a promising introduced annual legume suitable for some of Western Australia's well drained sandy acid soils where other pasture legumes failto persist.

In the Esperance area serradella grows siccessfully on some sandy soils more than 0.5 metres deep. I develops deep roots rapidly - up to three times deeper than subterranean clover - and this is probably the main reason for its persistance.

At present only two late maturing, registered serradella cultivars are available to farmers in southern Australia. This article describes research at Esperance to delect earlier flowering cultivars for persistence in areas with less than 400 millimetres average annual rainfall, and to markedly increase pasture production and soil nitrogen build up on the deeper sands and acid soils.

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