Responses of selected tropical forage legumes to imposed drought

Andi L. Amar¹ , Robert A. Congdon², Ross J. Coventry² and Christopher P. Gardiner³

¹Faculty of Animal Husbandry and Fisheries, Universitas Tadulako, Palu 94117 Sulawesi Tengah, Indonesia.

²Tropical Plant Sciences, School of Marine and Tropical Biology, James Cook University, Townsville Qld 4811, Australia

³School of Veterinary and Biomedical Science, James Cook University, Townsville Qld 4811, Australia

Corresponding author: Andiamar85@gmail.com

Received: June 30, 2022 / Revised: Aug 1, 2022/ Accepted: Aug 2, 2022

Abstract

Drought tolerance is an important attribute for the establishment of forage legumes in the rangelands of the seasonal semi-arid tropics. This experiment examined the seedling rooting depth, plant biomass, and other growth parameters of 5 perennial tropical legumes in response to different watering and drying regimes. Centrosema brasilianum cv. Oolloo and Macroptilium bracteatum (CPI 55770) produced deeper roots, greater root biomass, and more root nodules than Stylosanthes scabra cv. Seca and Desmanthus virgatus (CPI 79653), however only D. virgatus produced deeper roots and increased biomass in response to the drought treatment. Arachis triseminalis (CPI 91423), C. brasilianum and M. bracteatum flowered during the 9-week course of the experiment, with the latter two species producing pods. Seca, A. triseminalis and D. virgatus show adaptations of drought-tolerance, whilst C. brasilianum and M. bracteatum are adapted to drought avoidance.

Keywords Savanna, Pasture Legumes, Water Stress

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How to cite this article

Andi L. Amar, A. L., Robert, A., Congdon, R. A., Coventry, R. J. and Gardiner, C. P. (2022). Responses of selected tropical forage legumes to imposed drought. Science Archives, Vol. 3 (3), 158-167.  https://doi.org/10.47587/SA.2022.3303

          

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