Comparison of winter cereal, oilseed and grain legume crops on the Darling Downs, Queensland

Abstract

Performances of 18 winter cereal, grain legume and oilseed crops were compared on the Darling Downs in 1976 using cultural practices appropriate for each. All crops, except for faba bean, which had a lower population than desired, established satisfactorily. The season was characterised by twice the average number (55) of heavy frosts, although only safflower appeared to be adversely affected. Heavy rain around maturity caused lodging of the prostrate crops lathyrus and field pea, some pod shattering of most grain legumes, and delays in machine-harvest, due to waterlogging, of almost all crops. Barley and canary seed were affected by powdery mildew during August and early September but recovered after rain in mid-September. Later rainfall promoted the diseases Alternaria carthami in safflower and Puccinia sp. in vetch, reducing grain yields in both crops. Except for chickpea, all grain legumes nodulated effectively. Lathyrus produced more larger ( >3 mm diameter) nodules than any other grain legume while lentil and vetch had many small (<2 mm) nodules. At floral initiation, more herbage DM was produced by triticale and oats than all other crops except barley and fieldpea. The most productive grain legumes were fieldpea, lathyrus and lentil. All oilseeds produced similar quantities of herbage DM, which were greater than those for grain legumes but less than those for cereals. Nitrogen concentration in herbage increased in the order: cereals < oilseeds <grain legumes. Machine-harvested grain yields of cereals were generally higher than those of oilseeds or grain legumes but delayed harvest caused large grain losses for many oilseeds and grain legumes. Pod shattering and crop lodging caused large yield losses in rapeseed and field peas, respectively. Lupins (cv. Ultra) produced more harvestable grain (1.6 t/ha) than any other grain legume, rapeseed, safflower or canary seed. An even higher grain yield (3.9 t/ha) was measured at a nearby site on an acid soil. Of the other grain legumes, lentil and lathyrus appear to be poorly adapted for this region while faba bean and vetch appear moderately well suited.

Nitrogen Use Efficiency and Nitrogen Uptake of juncea Canola under Diverse Environments

“…In grain cropping systems, N balance is the bookkeeping of N inputs relative to N losses (Racz et al, 1965). Nitrogen losses associated with N exports from harvested grains represent an important component of the N balance (Harbison et al, 1986), and the amount of N exported through grains may vary depending on crop species. For example, N lost through the harvest of napus canola was about 34 kg N ha −1 (Hocking et al, 2002), whereas it was in the range of 40 (Hocking et al, 2002) to 48 kg N ha −1 (Singh and Singh, 1984) for Indian mustard.…”

Nitrogen dynamics of chickpea: Effects of cultivar choice, N fertilization, Rhizobium inoculation, and cropping systems

“…Nitrogen balance refers to the seed N exported via harvesting relative to the level of N imported via fertilizer inputs plus N fixation (Harbison et al 1986). A high seed yield, low N fixation, or high N harvest index (NHI: seed N as a percentage of total above-ground plant N) may result in a negative N balance.…”

Screening techniques and improved biological nitrogen fixation in cool season food legumes

“…Differences in rotational effects among the cool season legume species appear to vary for particular sites and/or seasons (Harbison et al, 1986 ;Strong et al ., 1986a;Harris, 1989Harris, , 1990 . Strong et al .…”