Inoculation of forage and grain legumes with rhizobia is an important process to maximize biological N2 fixation capacity in these crops. Inoculation has the potential of increasing dry matter yield, N yield, and residual N levels. However, yield responses to inoculation are not universal in the region. In fields that have previously grown the same grain legume crop (i.e. contain an endemic rhi...

The Fabaceae, or legumes, constitute the third largest family of flowering plants, comprising more than 650 genera and 18,000 species (Polhill and Raven, 1981). Economically, legumes represent the second most important family of crop plants after Poaceae (grass family), accounting for approximately 27% of the world’s crop production (Graham and Vance, 2003). On a worldwide basis, legumes contri...

Pasture micro-nutrient concentrations are often deficient for herbage productivity and the health of livestock. The aim this study was to investigate soil content effects on yield three pasture systems North Wyke Farm Platform (NWFP): high-sugar grass + legume mix minus nitrogen (N) fertilizer (blue/HSG L); permanent plus N (green/P N); (red/HSG N). locations with high total had a greater slope...

Canopy characterization is essential for describing the interaction of a crop with its environment. The goal of this work was to determine the relationship between leaf area index (LAI) and ground cover (GC) in a grass, a legume and a crucifer crop, and to assess the feasibility of using these relationships as well as LAI-2000 readings to estimate LAI. Twelve plots were sown with either barley ...

Grain legume production in Europe has recently come under scrutiny. Although legume crops are often promoted to provide environmental services, European farmers tend to turn to non-legume crops. It is assumed that high variability in legume yields explains this aversion, but so far this hypothesis has not been tested. Here, we estimate the variability of major grain legume and non-legume yields...

The grass pea (Lathyrus sativus) is a dual purpose forage seed legume crop. It has a good potential as winter forage legume under Saudi Arabian conditions. This study was conducted in 1993/94 and 1994/95 seasons to evaluate 15 selection lines of the Grass Pea for forage, seed yields and other growth characters. Combined analysis of data from the two years revealed significant difference between...

Subacute ruminal acidosis (SARA) was induced by replacing 25% of the total mixed ration intake [dry matter (DM) basis] with pellets consisting of 50% wheat and 50% barley. This reduced dietary forage content (DM basis) from 39.7 to 29.8% and increased the dietary concentrate content from 60.3 to 70.2%. Induction of SARA reduced the 24- and 48-h in situ neutral detergent fiber (NDF) degradabilit...