Item

Association between growth characters and suckering ability in populations of lucerne : a thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Agricultural Science in the University of Canterbury [Lincoln College]

Dunbier, M. W.
Date
1970
Type
Thesis
Fields of Research
ANZSRC::070302 Agronomy , ANZSRC::070305 Crop and Pasture Improvement (Selection and Breeding) , ANZSRC::070303 Crop and Pasture Biochemistry and Physiology
Abstract
The place of lucerne (Medicago sativa) in New Zealand agriculture and the extent of its contribution to future agricultural production has been the subject of much discussion. Lynch (1967) quotes the Government Statistician as estimating the total area of lucerne in New Zealand in 1964/65 as 282,000 acres and considers that the area will reach 300,000 acres by 1980. Palmer (1966) considered the present area in lucerne was more likely to be 500,000 acres on the basis of seed yields and stand longevity and suggested lucerne would be the most productive plant on 10 million acres of the South Island. Langer (1966) suggested the use of lucerne could almost double plant production from 1 million acres of light land in Canterbury and visualised an important role for lucerne in providing a considerable production increase over several million acres of South Island. An increase in the area of lucerne is most likely in those areas of brown grey and yellow grey earth soils east of the Southern Alps where average rainfall is less than 30 inches and in parts of the North Island. The difference between actual areas growing lucerne and the area where greater production could be expected from lucerne results from several factors. Establishment costs are high because of high seed costs, low tolerance of lucerne to acid soils and low production in the seedling year. The use of lucerne for extensive grazing on dry land areas has been restricted by the poor cool-season growth of existing varieties and the need for a high standard of grazing management to produce high yields and maintain the stand in a vigorous condition. Lynch (1967) warned that the use of lucerne for extensive grazing on hill country depended on overcoming the problem of obtaining good establishment without ploughing and the development of an improved grazing variety. According to Iverson (1957) and Iversen and Meijer (1967) M. falcata originated in a more northern area than M. sativa where the rainfall was higher and the soils more leached. The significance of the discovery of creeping-rooted plants amongst M. falcata was not realised until after the great drought of the 1930’s in Canada but since then programmes to greed creeping-rooted lucernes have been started in many parts of the world. Heinrichs (1963) commented that the true potential of creeping-rooted lucernes would not be realised until adapted varieties were developed for particular locations. The use of suitable creeping-rooted lucernes, able to spread and regenerate vegetatively by root suckers should enable lucerne to be grown over a greater area as creeping lucernes have been shown to be more persistent and withstand grazing better than non-creeping types (Heinrichs 1963, Daday 1968, Bray 1969) and, providing they creep vigorously should give good ground cover even after a sparse initial establishment. The main disadvantage of the creeping-rooted lucerne varieties bred in North America when grown in Australasia is their low production, caused principally by their long period of winter dormancy and slow regrowth after cutting. The low production of these varieties, bred for an area with a short growing reason, has been confounded with the lower production and slow regrowth characteristic of M. falcata (Iversen and Meijer, 1967). It is important to know if the creeping-rooted character is closely associated with the M. falcata characters and particularly with low forage and seed yields. This study is an attempt to discover whether there is any phenotypic association between the creeping character and other plant characters and particularly with low forage and seed yields. This study is an attempt to discover whether there is any phenotypic association between the creeping character and other plant characters in four populations of creeping-rooted plants of different genetic background.
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