S.J. Carr

TL;DR: Developing the new pasture legumes of Mediterranean Basin origin for the Mediterranean, temperate and southern subtropical climates of Australia allows for more robust pastures buffered against variable seasons, soils, pests, diseases and management decisions.

TL;DR: Examining the factors influencing legume usage in Mediterranean agriculture and the changing focus on legumes in southern Australia is used to illustrate new roles for legume in evolving farming systems shows that root-nodule bacteria are important in maximising productivity in these systems.

TL;DR: The importance of ley farming for Australian agriculture, the shortcomings of the traditional medics and clovers and the imperatives for a second generation of annual pasture legume species to be developed are reviewed.

TL;DR: It is suggested that biserrula may be successful in the ley farming system (crop/pasture rotations) of southern Australia, although there is sufficient variation in hardseededness for the selection of somewhat softer lines.

TL;DR: Genetic variation based on morphological traits was found between and within sites for both species and Pod characteristics and flowering time were the most important traits assisting in discriminating between accessions.