Centre Pivot Trial
Drop tube irrigated lucerne seed, herbage yield and plant persistence evaluation
Background
Part of our role is to become an integral part of the information distribution and research extension networks. Lucerne Australia has already completed a trial that measures and compares the seed and herbage yielding performance of various public and Plant Breeders Rights (PBR) lucerne varieties under a border check irrigation system.
With significant areas of Australia’s lucerne seed production receiving up to a 50 per cent reduction in water license, water is becoming far more valuable. This has seen a shift away from border check irrigation and towards more efficient practices such as drop tube centre pivot irrigation systems. This trial will obtain and compare lucerne herbage and seed yield data using the current best practice system of drop tube irrigation. It commenced in July 2010 and concludes in 2015.
The aim of the project is to determine which lucerne varieties will optimise seed and herbage yield under a drop tube centre pivot irrigation system, therefore increasing the return per mega litre of water.
Objectives
1) To identify varieties of lucerne that are capable of optimising production, both seed and herbage within a given irrigation schedule with the aim of increasing net returns per mega litre of water pumped.
2) To optimise seed production for the Australian lucerne seed industry in order to achieve higher net returns per hectare.
3) To measure and compare the seed and herbage yielding performance of new and existing commercial lucerne varieties.
4) To measure and compare the seed and herbage yielding performance of experimental varieties of lucerne against current commercial varieties in order to identify and fast track superior genetics to the commercial market.
5) To conduct the proposed trial within a drop tube centre pivot irrigation system with current best district practices using the knowledge of specialised agronomists, growers and research organisations.
6). Annual plant persistence evaluation of different winter activity lucerne groups.
Caption: Grower members at a trial site day in 2010.
The first harvest from this trial (2010) has returned results that were very reflective of the season and experienced by most growers in the region. There were very low yields and a significant degree of variation within the trial that is often evident in seedling stands. After studying the harvest data, very little credence can be put on the results due to the low yields from the poor weather conditions.
That said, the trial has now established very well and the trial site committee is keenly looking forward to collaborating more results in the coming seasons.
Adam Desmazures is the Executive Committee member responsible for overseeing this trial on behalf of Lucerne Australia.
Click to download the 2010 Irrigated Lucerne Seed and Plant Persistence Trial