(Galega Orientalis Lam.) with Traditional Herbage Legumes
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Cross-Canada comparison of the productivity of fodder galega (Galega orientalis Lam.) with traditional herbage legumes N. A. Fairey1, L. P. Lefkovitch2, B. E. Coulman3, D. T. Fairey4, T. Kunelius5, D. B. McKenzie6, R. Michaud7, and W. G. Thomas8 1Beaverlodge Research Farm, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, P.O. Box 29, Beaverlodge, Alberta, Canada T0H 0C0 (e-mail: [email protected]); 251 Corkstown Road, Nepean, Ontario, Canada K2H 7V4 ; 3Research Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 107 Science Place, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada S7N 0X2; 4Formerly Beaverlodge Research Farm, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, P.O. Box 29, Beaverlodge, Alberta, Canada T0H 0C0; 5Charlottetown Research Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 440 University Avenue, P.O. Box 1210, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada C1A 7M8; 6Atlantic Cool Climate Crop Research Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 308 Brookfield Road, P.O. Box 39088, St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada A1E 5Y7; 7Research Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 2560 Hochelaga Boulevard, Sainte- Foy, Québec, Canada G1V 2J3; 8Nova Scotia Department of Agriculture and Marketing, Truro, Nova Scotia, Canada B2N 5E3. Contribution no. BRS 99-07, received 1 December 1999, accepted 5 June 2000. Fairey, N. A., Lefkovitch, L. P., Coulman, B. E., Fairey, D. T., Kunelius, T., McKenzie, D. B., Michaud, R. and Thomas, W. G. 2000. Cross-Canada comparison of the productivity of fodder galega (Galega orientalis Lam.) with traditional herbage legumes. Can. J. Plant Sci. 80: 793–800. A study was conducted across Canada to compare the herbage productivity of fodder galega (Galega orientalis Lam.) to that of traditional forage legumes, in order to assess its agricultural potential. Trials were estab- lished at latitudes ranging from 45 to 56°N with longitudes from 52°W (St. John’s, Newfoundland) to 120°W (Dawson Creek, British Columbia). Herbage productivity was monitored for a maximum of 3 production years. The establishment characteristics of Gale fodder galega were comparable to those of Apica and Beaver alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) and Altaswede red clover (Trifolium pratense L.), and somewhat superior to those of Dawn Alsike clover (T. hybridum L.) and Leo trefoil (Lotus cornicu- latus L.). Anik alfalfa (M. falcata L.) was far less uniform and vigorous in its establishment than any of the other species. The average annual dry matter yield of fodder galega ranked third among the seven legumes when averaged over the nine sites; it pro- duced 5545 (SE 95) kg ha–1 compared to 3931 (SE 72) kg ha–1 for Dawn alsike clover, the lowest-yielding crop, and 6673 (SE 114) kg ha–1 for Apica alfalfa, the highest-yielding. The cumulative dry matter yields indicated that Gale galega is at least as well adapted across Canada as the other legumes, except possibly at Saskatoon where the M. sativa alfalfas were far supe- For personal use only. rior to all the other legumes in their ability to establish and thrive. The performance characteristics of Gale fodder galega indicate that it has considerable agricultural potential as an additional, perennial, herbage legume for many regions of Canada, except in the semi-arid continental climate of the central Prairies where its growth may be limited by high air temperature and/or insuffi- cient soil moisture. Key words: Fodder galega, Galega orientalis Lam., goat’s rue, herbage production, forage legume Fairey, N. A., Lefkovitch, L. P., Coulman, B. E., Fairey, D. T., Kunelius, T., McKenzie, D. B., Michaud, R. et Thomas, W. G. 2000. Comparaison de la productivité du galéga fourrager (Galega orientalis Lam.) au Canada avec celle des légumineuses fourragères d’usage courant. Can. J. Plant Sci. 80: 793–800. Nous avons conduit à divers endroits de l’est et de l’ouest du Canada une étude comparative de la productivité du galéga fourrager (Galega orientalis Lam.) par rapport à celle des légumineuses fourragères d’exploitation courante. Les essais étaient installés sous des latitudes allant de 45 à 56°N et des longitudes de 52°O (St-Jean, Terre-Neuve) à 120°O (Dawson Creek, Colombie-Britannique). La productivité fourragère était observée sur un maxi- mum de 3 années d’exploitation. Au plan de l’installation (levée, survie) l’espèce se comparait favorablement aux cultivars Apica Can. J. Plant Sci. Downloaded from www.nrcresearchpress.com by 64.114.106.48 on 02/08/19 et Beaver de luzerne (Medicago sativa) et Altaswede de trèfle rouge (Trifolium pratense L.), avec une légère supériorité sur le trèfle hybride Dawn (T. hybridum L.) et sur le lotier corniculé Leo (Lotus corniculatus L.). La luzerne Anik (M. falcata L.) était de loin moins homogène et vigoureuse dans l’année d’installation que toutes les autres espèces comparées. Pour les neuf emplace- ments confondus, le rendement annuel moyen en matière sèche du galéga se classait au troisième rang parmi les sept légumineuses étudiées: il était de 5 545 (ET 95) kg ha–1 contre 3 931 (ET 72) kg ha–1 pour le trèfle hybride Dawn, l’espèce la moins productive, et 6 673 (ET 114) kg ha–1 pour la luzerne Apica, l’espèce la plus productive. D’après les rendements en matière sèche cumulatifs, le galéga fourrager Gale peut se cultiver aussi bien que les autres légumineuses partout au Canada, excepté peut-être en Saskatchewan où le luzerne M. sativa l’emportait de loin sur toutes les autres légumineuses par ses qualités d’installation, de crois- sance et de longévité. Grâce à ses belles performances, la nouvelle culture offre de grandes possibilités agronomiques comme légu- mineuse fourragère vivace d’appoint dans beaucoup de régions du Canada, sauf dans les conditions climatiques continentales semi-arides des Prairies centrales où sa croissance risque d’être restreinte par les hautes températures de l’air ou par le manque d’humidité du sol (ou par les deux en combinaison). Mots clés: Galéga fourrager, Galega orientalis Lam., rue des chèvres, production fourragère, légumineuse fourragère 793 in thePeaceregionofnorthwestern Canadaandtheothers latitudes intherangeof45 The studywasconductedat nine sitesacrossCanadawith herbage legume. ment ofitsagriculturalpotentialasanadditional,perennial, legume foragecrops,inordertomakeaprovisionalassess pare theproductivityoffoddergalegatothattraditional study wasconductedatseveralsitesacrossCanadatocom with northernEuropeandtheNordiccountries.Thepresent Canadian agriculturebecauseoftheclimaticsimilarities about thecrop’ssuitabilityasanalternativetoalfalfafor characteristics offoddergalega,Raig(1994)speculated 1994). Inhisassessmentoftheagronomicandbotanical seed cropisexcellentforhoneyproductionbybees(Raig subsequent feeding,whilethenectarfromflowersof a conserved assilage,hay,haylageordehydratedmealfor herbage isbestutiliseddirectlybylivestockasgreenfeedor terial numbersinthesoil(Lindströmetal.1985).The (at leasttopH4.5)althoughharshwintersmayreducebac ria ( otic nitrogenfixation,andassociatednitrogen-fixingbacte clover (Varis1986).Furthermore,foddergalega,itssymbi maturing atleast2wkearlierthanalfalfa(Raig1982)orred over alonggrowingseason,withgrowthbeginningandseed high concentrationofprotein.Vegetativematterisproduced by undergroundstolons.Theabovegroundvegetationhasa leguminous herbthatcanspreadandpropagatevegetatively galegine itself. form ofgalegineandappearstobemuchlesstoxicthan grown inEstonia,i.e.0.2%;smirnovineistheconjugated smirnovine wasnogreaterthanthatisolatedfromplants fodder galegagrowninCanadabuttheconcentrationof and its( (1996) detectedtwohemiterpenoidguanidines(smirnovine alkaloids tobetoxicruminantlivestock.Bennetal. Nômmsalu (1993), galegine (Raig1994).AccordingtoVaris(1986)and the presenceofseveralalkaloidsincludingvasicineand nalis name waschosentoavoidconfusionwiththatof under thename“foddergalega”(Raig1994).Thiscommon include thisspeciesintheirlistoffieldandfoddercrops posal totheInternationalSeedTestingAssociation Institute ofAgricultureandLandImprovementmadeapro countries (Varis1986).In1993,theEstonianResearch Estonia (Nômmsalu1994;Raig1982,1994)andtheNordic is (Raig 1982,1994).Theagronomicpotentialof 1972, hasbeendevelopedinEstoniaasanewfoddercrop Galega orientalis in SouthAmerica,NewZealandandcentralEurope, L., anornamentalandmedicinalplantthatoccursasaweed This genuscontainstwoknownspecies, whose commonnameincludesplantsknownasgoat’srue. The plantfamily,Leguminosae,includesthegenus 794 has beenwelldocumentedfortemperateregionssuchas Fodder galegaisaperennial,winter-hardy,tap-rooted, Rhizobium galegae , aplantthatistoxictoruminantlivestockbecauseof CANADIAN JOURNALOFPLANTSCIENCE Z )-4-hydroxy derivative)inthevegetativematterof MATERIALS ANDMETHODS Lam. aperenniallegumewhich,since G. orientalis ) aretolerantofmoderatelyacidsoils to 56 ° does notcontainsufficient N; fourofthesesiteswere Galega officinalis G. oriental G. offici For personal use only. Galega - - - - - - - - Can. J. Plant Sci. Downloaded from www.nrcresearchpress.com by 64.114.106.48 on 02/08/19 Table 1. Physical characteristics, long-term (1961–1990) environmental conditions, and experimental information for the study sites Minimum monthly Maximum monthly Mean monthly Annual air temperature air temperature air temperature Harvested precipitation (°C) (°C) (°C) Seeding plot size Site Latitude Longitude Soil classification (mm) January July January July January July date (m2) Dawson Creek, British Columbia 55°46′N 120°14′W Gray Solod/Luvisol 487 –20.8 8.5 –9.1 21.8 –14.9 15.1 1/6/94 3.1 Beaverlodge, Alberta 55°12′N 119°24′W Gray Solod/Luvisol 468 –18.1 8.9 –9.0 21.6 –13.5 15.3 30/5/94 3.1 Foster’s,