Document Type

Article

Publication Date

3-24-2023

Journal Title

Agronomy

ISSN

2073-4395

Keywords

competitive ability, establishment, mixtures, forage legumes, Bituminaria bituminosa

Disciplines

Agronomy and Crop Sciences

Abstract

Bituminaria bituminosa var. albomarginata, known as Tedera, is a promising forage for Mediterranean climates. An improved variety named LANZA® has been developed. Previous research suggests that soil water saturation in heavy-textured soils might affect its initial development. Competition from grasses could also compromise its successful establishment and persistence. We investigated the effects of soils with contrasting textures (loamy sand vs. clay) with a high soil water content and the competition from Lolium multiflorum on the development of LANZA® in a pot experiment. Dry mass (DM) production of LANZA® was strongly reduced (86%) when grown with L. multiflorum. LANZA® shoot DM was 60% higher than the total shoot DM production of the mixture of LANZA® and L. multiflorum. Soil type did not significantly affect the shoot and total root DM. However, a 44% reduction of the DM of thin roots and slower development was observed in clay soils, which may indicate a preference for light-textured soils. This study provides further information on the factors limiting the establishment and persistence of LANZA®. Future research should confirm these results at field scale and investigate measures aimed at reducing early competition in monocultures and functional complementarity with partner species in mixtures to successfully establish LANZA®.

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Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy13040965