Time application of superphosphate and the yield of pasture on an acid soil.

1961 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 81
Author(s):  
KD McLachlan

Superphosphate was applied in summer (December) or in autumn (March) to an existing mixed pasture of subterranean clover (Trifolium subterraneum L.) and phalaris (Phalaris tuberosa L.), growing on apodsolic soil of p H 5.8. Time of application effects were recorded at the lowest level of applied phosphate. The main effect was on the botanical composition of the pasture. The summer application favoured clover, the autumn one grass. This effect is explained as a change in the relative ability of the species to compete for superphosphate. These results suggest how time and rate of application of superphosphate may be used to manage pasture composition. In the first year, when clover growth was encouraged, the earlier application also increased the total yield of pasture. In the second and third years, changes in the yield of grass were offset by changes ill the yield of clover and the effect of time of application on total pasture yield was not significant.


1980 ◽  
Vol 20 (106) ◽  
pp. 568 ◽  
Author(s):  
KD McLachlan

A study was made of the role of superphosphate and lime on subterranean clover (Trifolium subterraneum) production on an infertile acid soil in pot culture. Both fertilizers increased the exchangeable calcium in this deficient soil. Lime and superphosphate were involved in nodulation of the clover plants. There was no evidence of the direct involvement of either of them in the nitrogen fixation process, but they did increase nitrogen uptake by the plants. Once the legume functioned adequately, full expression of the yield response to phosphorus on this deficient soil followed. Most efficient phosphorus use occurred at the lime 1255, superphosphate 2000 kg ha-1 level (lime 1/2, P 16). Heavy lime dressing reduced exchangeable magnesium and the phosphorus available to the plant. Aluminium and pH were involved in the effects observed. Lime reduced CaCl2-extractable aluminium and the titratable acidity in the soil. Phosphate increased the CaCl2-extractable aluminium and apparently reduced the titratable aluminium. The combined treatments reduced these three attributes and promoted increased plant growth. Increased plant growth was associated with increased aluminium uptake by the plants, which suggests that the real effect of aluminium may have been on the calcium and phosphorus uptake by the plants, rather than on the toxic nature of the element itself.



1955 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 553 ◽  
Author(s):  
RC Rossiter ◽  
PG Ozanne

A 2-year field experiment is described, in which an annual-type pasture was grown on a soil of lateritic origin with various initial rates of rock phosphate and superphosphate. The soil was acutely deficient in plant-available phosphorus at the outset. Application of superphosphate led to the expected increases in total pasture production, but rock phosphate also gave substantial yield increases, even during the first season. Differential species effects were noted; subterranean clover (Trifolium subterraneum L.) and cape-weed (Cryptostemma calendula Druce) responded about equally to superphosphate, but the clover responded to rock phosphate to a greater extent than did cape-weed. Both relative efficiency for total plant growth and percentage utilization of applied phosphorus were much higher with the soluble phosphatic fertilizer than with rock phosphate, especially in the first year. However, phosphorus recovery from rock phosphate was as high in the second year as in the first, whereas there was a marked decrease in the second year from superphosphate.



1973 ◽  
Vol 13 (64) ◽  
pp. 556
Author(s):  
DW Barrett ◽  
GW Arnold ◽  
NA Campbell

Pastures containing subterranean clover (Trifolium subterraneum) and either Vulpia spp. or Bromus rigidus as the other major species were sprayed at 0, 0.07, 0.14 and 0.21 kg a.i. ha-1 of paraquat ion between June and early October in Western Australia. Spraying removed the grasses and produced pastures containing up to 95 per cent clover. Mid-winter applications were more effective in increasing clover content than those made in spring. These changes in botanical composition were evident in the year following spraying, but were less marked. Yields of dry matter were reduced by paraquat, especially 'in the period immediately following spraying. These losses tended to decline as the growing season progressed, but at the close they were still evident on the Bromus rigidus pasture sprayed in July. Yields at the end of the subsequent season were similar on all treatments. Paraquat applied in mid-August at 0.14 kg a.i. ha-1 to both pastures produced the greatest change in botanical composition with the minimum loss of yield. The concentrations of nitrogen, phosphorus, calcium and magnesium were higher in mature herbage on paraquat treatments. Total yields of nutrients were similar between treatments because of reduced dry matter yield.



1972 ◽  
Vol 12 (57) ◽  
pp. 392 ◽  
Author(s):  
AA McGowan ◽  
IH Cameron

The effect of time of application of superphosphate on the dry matter produced from a subterranean clover (Trifolium subterraneum)annual grass pasture was studied. Treatments involved an annual topdressing of superphosphate, at 125 kg ha-1, in a particular month of the year, for each of the twelve months ; there was also an unfertilized control. In winter, dry matter yield was increased by 350-1190 kg ha-1 when superphosphate was applied at any time of the year. Winter yields were higher after application in January to May (mean 1570 kg ha-1) than in October to December (mean 1190 kg ha-1) or in June-July (mean 1230 kg ha-1). In spring, the greatest increases in dry matter yield were from topdressing in August or September (1600 and 1210 kg ha-1 respectively). Spring yields following application in other months were smaller but usually significantly greater than the yield of unfertilized pasture. The response to autumn application of superphosphate was much greater in winter than in spring. This was not due to a lower phosphorus requirement by the pasture in spring than in winter.



2003 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 61 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. D. Li ◽  
K. R. Helyar ◽  
C. M. Evans ◽  
M. C. Wilson ◽  
L. J. C. Castleman ◽  
...  

Two permanent pastures (annual pasture v. perennial pasture) were established in 1992 as part of the long-term field experiment, MASTER — Managing Acid Soils Through Efficient Rotations. The primary objective of the experiment was to develop an agricultural system that is economically viable and environmentally sustainable on the highly acidic soils in south-eastern Australia. This paper reports on the effects of lime on the botanical composition changes of annual and perennial pastures over 9 years. In general, lime increased the proportion of the desirable species, such as phalaris (Phalaris aquatica) in perennial pasture and subterranean clover (Trifolium subterraneum) in annual pastures, and decreased the proportion of the undesirable species, such as Vulpia spp., in both annual and perennial pastures, ultimately improving the quality of feed-on-offer to animals. As a result, the limed pastures carried 24% more sheep than the unlimed pastures, while maintaining individual animal performance similar for both limed and unlimed pastures. The phalaris-based perennial pasture was more stable in terms of maintaining the sown species than the annual pasture. Lime improved the persistence of phalaris and the longevity of the phalaris-based pasture should be at least 10 years. Lime changed the direction of plant succession of annual pastures. Without lime, Vulpia spp. gradually became more dominant while ryegrass and subterranean clover became less dominant in annual pastures. With lime, barley grass (Hordeum leporinum) gradually invaded the sward at the expense of ryegrass, thus reducing the benefits of lime, but this effect was less for the perennial pastures than for annual pastures. Liming perennial pastures should be more beneficial than liming annual pastures because of the beneficial effects on pasture composition. In addition, previously published work reported that liming perennial pastures improved sustainability through better use of water and nitrogen.



1989 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
A.G. Davey ◽  
A.P. Henderson ◽  
R.J. Simpson


1998 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 225 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. J. Thomson ◽  
C. K. Revell ◽  
N. C. Turner ◽  
M. A. Ewing ◽  
I. F. Le Coultre

A long-term rotation experiment located in south-western Australia was used to measure the effect of rotation and time of germinating rains on the productivity and botanical composition of grazed annual pastures in 2 contrasting seasons in an environment with an average annual rainfall of 325 mm. The density of self-regenerating seedlings of subterranean clover (Trifolium subterraneum), capeweed (Arctotheca calendula), and grasses (Lolium rigidum, Hordeum leporinum, Bromus diandrus) was greatly increased (approx. 3 times the density) when there was a second year of pasture after crop compared with the first year after crop. The lower plant density resulted in first-year pastures having only about 33% of the autumn biomass accumulation of second-year pastures. This difference in early pasture growth had no effect on total pasture production in 1992, but in 1993 total pasture production was 30% greater in second-year pastures compared with first-year pastures. Botanical composition varied between and within seasons with the percentage of subterranean clover increasing throughout the season and the percentage of capeweed decreasing throughout the season. Grasses comprised <20% of the biomass in all seasons and treatments. Production of subterranean clover seed in 1993 was higher in a 1 : 2 crop-pasture rotation than in a 1 : 1 crop-pasture rotation and direct drilling in the cropping phase increased seed set compared with conventional tillage in both 1 : 1 and 1 : 2 crop-pasture rotations. Capeweed seedlings emerged in large numbers after rainfall between February and May and subsequently showed a relative growth rate twice that of subterranean clover and the grasses, but exclusion of rainfall until June resulted in a significant reduction in the emergence of capeweed seedlings. Additionally, capeweed had a lower rate of seedling survival compared with other pasture species, and this is contrary to observations by other researchers that capeweed is highly resistant to moisture stress during early growth.



1954 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 608 ◽  
Author(s):  
AG Tyson

Manganese deficiency of subterranean clover (Trifolium subterraneum L.) appeared in pots of a Kangaroo Island soil, the pH of which had been changed by the addition of small amounts of lime from 6.2 (the natural pH) to 6.3-6.5. As a result of this deficiency, yields were severely depressed. The symptoms of manganese deficiency in subterranean clover are described. Chemical analyses of healthy plants showed manganese contents, expressed on a dry matter basis, varying from 30 p.p.m. on a slightly acid soil to over 300 p.p.m. on a strongly acid soil. Plants in various stages of manganese deficiency showed only 4-25 p.p.m. It is suggested that, at the flowering stage, 25 parts of manganese per million parts of dry matter represents the minimum amount of manganese for healthy growth of subterranean clover. Applications of manganese sulphate to the soil at a rate of 56 lb/acre prevented the appearance of manganese deficiency symptoms, increased the manganese content of the clover to 35 p.p.m., and led to nearly a 20-fold increase in growth. Manganese deficiency in subterranean clover has also been seen in the field on Kangaroo Island and one sample examined showed only 9.4 p.p.m. of manganese on a dry matter basis.



1952 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 95 ◽  
Author(s):  
AJ Anderson ◽  
DV Moye

In a study of the factors concerned in the effect of lime on subterranean clover (Trifolium subterraneum L.) on an acid soil where nodulation is defective, it has been found that responses equal to those obtained with heavy dressings of lime can be obtained by the application of molybdenum together with only 2 cwt. of lime per acre at seeding. Marked response to molybdenum was obtained only where low levels of lime were used. Where heavier dressings of lime were applied the clover grew normally and did not then require treatment with molybdenum. Where no lime was used nodulation was defective and, during the first two )ears, response to molybdenum did not occur or was very small. Nodulation subsequently improved on the unlimed soil and response to molybdenum progressively increased over the five-year period of the experiments. In the year of sowing best results were obtained where the inoculated seed was drilled with the lime. The evidence suggests that defective nodulation of subterranean clover may be expected on new land where the soil reactions are less than pH 5.0, and that soils of higher pH but with minimum values less than pH 5.5 are also suspect. The importance of treatment with adequate superphosphate in addition to lime and molybdenum in the development of subterranean clover on this acid soil is stressed. The interpretation and significance of the positive and negative lime-molybdenum interactions obtained are discussed.



1964 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 61 ◽  
Author(s):  
RC Rossiter

The results of two long-term field experiments and two 1-year experiments are reported. In three of these, severe phosphate deficiency was present initially. At high phosphate supply, the annual total yield was not significantly related to age of pasture over periods of 10–13 years. At intermediate and low supply, yields relative to high phosphate supply increased significantly with time; these increases are believed to demonstrate residual effects of phosphate. Indirect evidence for nitrogen accretion from clover under severely phosphate-deficient conditions is presented. Sward components—in the long term—responded differentially to phosphate supply. With very low phosphate, erodium (Erodium botrys (Cav.) Bertol.) and flatweed (Hypochoeris glabra L.) were dominant; whereas with high phosphate, cape-weed (Cryptostemma calendula (L.) Druce) and ripgut brome grass (Bromus rigidus Roth)—or else barley grass (Hordeum leporinum Link)—were dominant. Subterranean clover (Trifolium subterraneum L.), though present under these extremes, was relatively more plentiful at intermediate levels of supply. However, at "steady state" conditions, the range in clover content was fairly narrow (from c. 20 to 40%). The significance of these findings to a sheep infertility problem ("clover disease") of subterranean clover-dominant pastures is discussed.



Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document