Lucerne adapted to adverse environments in China and Australia

• Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Australia
• University of Tasmania, Australia
• Gansu Agricultural University, China
• Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, China
• Beijing Forestry University, China
• Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, China
• Gansu Grasslands Ecological Research Institute, China

Sustainable agricultural production is vital for China. As the country develops, demand for animal products is increasing. However, the country faces a severe shortage of forage, as well as many environmental problems such as increasing soil salinity, acidity and erosion. The vast grassland areas are not very productive, partly due to inappropriate management but also because of unimproved pasture plants and deforestation. Australia also has related problems of salinity and waterlogging caused by a lack of deep-rooted perennials plants to keep watertables low. Part of the solution to these problems may come from lucerne, which is a nutritious, productive perennial forage legume, with the potential to improve animal production and soil stability, and lower watertables. Interest in lucerne is growing, often in places where it was previously considered unsuitable.

Currently, lucerne is sown in 14 provinces in China, and covers 1.33 million ha. It also grows wild in other regions of the country. However, it could be grown far more widely. But the current lucerne is under-utilised, because of the poor performance of the cultivars grown, coupled with a lack of suitable technology and quality seed. A diverse base of germplasm is already available for lucerne, with a range of tolerances to adverse soil and climatic conditions. But research is required to develop lucerne germplasm specifically adapted for the situations in China and Australia. This large project will target salt, waterlogging, acid/aluminium and cold tolerance by developing new screening techniques and using them to identify tolerant genotypes.

The project aims to produce lucerne varieties that are adapted to environmental stresses relevant to China and Australia through the development of germplasm and novel screening techniques.

The work will start with the main objective of acquiring likely sources of adapted germplasm (through accessing existing collections in Australia, China and elsewhere) and by using local and introduced cultivars. After quarantine, the germplasm will be characterised, seed multiplication will take place, and soil from field sites will be tested for strains of Rhizobium bacteria (important in nitrogen fixation by legume roots).

The second objective is to develop new screening techniques by applying stresses (salt, waterlogging etc) and evaluating the performances of the various cultivars. Screening will be carried out by measuring the bioelectric and chlorophyll fluorescence responses of the plants. The best plants will then be selected and cloned from cuttings.

The third objective is to deliver this well-adapted germplasm to seed producers and breeders. The project team will negotiate intellectual property issues, and distribute germplasm to Chinese farmers probably through government agencies.

The fourth objective is to train Chinese researchers, publish lucerne improvement findings and develop an extension course.