Lucerne establishment studies on uncultivated country

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Abstract
Two sowing methods (broadcasting and overdrilling) and three sward treatments (burning, paraquat, dalapon/amitrole, and a control) for introduction of lucerne into uncultivated country were compared at two sites differing in rainfall and vegetation but representative of large areas of country on which lucerne may have agronomic advantage over other legumes. The sowing technique involved accurate placement of seed. At regular intervals each seed was located and germination and establishment assessed. Detailed information was collected on germination, early seedling survival, and nodulation. Overdrilling was much superior to broadcasting, as sowing of the seed into moist soil resulted in high and rapid germination and excellent early seedling survival, irrespective of rainfall or vegetative cover. Germination and establishment of broadcast seed was very dependent on both rainfall after sowing and cover, although the importance of one was governed by the level of the other, e.g. at the wetter Mesopotamia site, cover was advantageous to germination and early seedling survival, but at the drier Waikari site, cover was essential if a reasonable number of seedlings were to establish. The best cover was the dead mulch produced by dalapon/amitrole; removal of cover by burning caused consistently poor results. Overdrilling the seed also markedly improved nodulation, which was closely related to early germination. At Waikari, nodulation was achieved only where the vegetation was treated with dalaponjamitrole before sowing. This suggested a nodulation problem existed here similar to that reported from other sites where Notodanthonia species dominate the vegetation.

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