Life Sciences Commons^™

Domestication Of Rough-Seeded Lupins, Bevan Buirchell, Wallace Cowling

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Since the beginning of civilisation, humans have been domesticating wild plants such as wheat, barley and rice. They have both conciously and unconciously selected plant types suited to cropping.

Reccently, there has been an increasing effort to domesticate a greater variety of wild plants, especially legumes.

Wheat Quality And Wheat Variety Decisions, Mark Stevens

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

The choice between which wheat variety to plant has always been a trade-off between yield and wheat quality. When wheat prices were higher and quality payments were less, quality considerations were of little importance and varieties were selected almost entirely on yield potential. Now, with low wheat prices and a greater emphasis on wheat quality from our customers, growers must place more importance on quality characteristics when selecting varieties. For example, should a grower select a higher yielding average quality wheat such as Spear, or a lower yielding, good quality wheat such as Machete? The important question a wheat grower …

Three New Late-Midseason Subterranean Clovers Released For High Rainfall Pastures, Phil Nichols, Donald Nicholas

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Three new subterranean clovers - Denmark, Gou/bum and Leura - have been released in 1992 by the National Subterranean Clover Improvement Program. These subterranean clovers are black-seeded, have low oestrogen levels and improved disease resistance. Their release offers the potential for substantial improvements in pasture productivity in areas of southern Australia that have long growing seasons.

This article outlines some of the testing procedures and subsequent selection of these varieties and describes their characteristics and potential role in Western Australia.

New Yellow Serradella Varieties For Low Rainfall Pastures, Clinton Revell

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Large areas of acidic, sandy soils in Western Australia's low and medium rainfall, wheatsheep areas are suited to the pasture legume, yellow serradella.

In the past, a lack of varieties with suitable maturity has limited the use of this species.

New varieties developed in Western Australia and significantly earlier in maturity than traditional types can now extend the use of yellow serradella into these regions.

Fodder Trees And Shrubs For High Rainfall Areas Of South Western Australia, Daya Patabendige, P R. Scott, Edward C. Lefroy

Resource management technical reports

In south Western Australia, the lack of good quality feed in late summer and autumn is a major constraint to livestock production. This feed gap is usually filled by costly supplementary hand feeding of grain or hay. The ability of some trees and shrubs to provide good quality forage during summer and autumn has generated interest for many years (Corbett, 1951; Everist, 1969; Snook, 1987;Oldham et al., 1991, Lefroy, 1991). The dual benefits of reducing the need for supplementary hand feeding and deferring the grazing of annual pastures until they are well established has recently led to the recognition of …