Phalaris
Phalaris is the most widely-sown, deep-rooted, temperate perennial grass for the inland high-rainfall zone and adjacent cropping areas in southern Australia. AWI and CSIRO are currently developing new cultivars to improve phalaris performance.
It has been sown on at least 2.5 million ha in the last 100 years, the highest levels of planting occurring from the 1960s until today. The high value and importance of phalaris in productive grazing systems is unique to Australia as all cultivars come from the phalaris improvement program run by CSIRO.
AWI has invested with CSIRO in the development of the widely planted and utilised cultivars Atlas PG, Australian II, Holdfast and Landmaster.
AWI and CSIRO are currently investing in the development of three new phalaris cultivars for particular environments;
- A general-purpose winter-active cultivar with improved persistence under heavy grazing pressure and targeted at areas where phalaris is widely adopted
- An aluminium tolerant cultivar for strongly acidic soils
- A heat tolerant cultivar better adapted to the north-west slopes of NSW
The current phalaris development program emphasises persistence because of its importance in gaining economic and environmental returns from perennial pastures.
Benefits of new phalaris species
The new winter-active cultivar, with improved persistence under grazing, represents a significant improvement in the adaptation of phalaris to intensive grazing systems, combining the grazing tolerance of Australian phalaris with the high productivity of the winter-active cultivars. The winter active cultivar will be commercially available in 2010. Commercial success could see this cultivar sown on 0.5-1.0 million ha in the ten years following its release.
The new acid tolerant cultivar will be commercially available in 2010. This cultivar is projected to allow more reliable establishment of phalaris on 0.3 million ha of acidic soils in southern Australia.
The heat tolerant cultivar being developed for the north-west slopes of NSW is nearing completion. This cultivar is projected to provide high quality forage and help fill the severe winter feed gap on 0.35 million ha in this region. The Northern cultivar is on track to be ready for commercialisation by the end of 2007.
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Ms Lu Hogan
Program Manager - Sustainable Production Systems
Tel: +61 2 8295 3100
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