B.F. MULLEN¹ and D.C. MACFARLANE²

¹Department of Agriculture, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
²Macfarlane and Associates, Mt Mort, Queensland, Australia

Abstract

A band-seeding method was utilised to oversow a suite of legumes into an established para grass (Brachiaria mutica) pasture. Twining legumes Pueraria phaseoloides and Centrosema pubescens persisted productively in the dense para grass sward but Neonotonia wightii cvv. Malawi and Cooper persisted weakly and Aeschynomene americana cv. Glenn, Stylosanthes guianensis cv. Cook and Vigna parkeri cv. Shaw failed to persist.
The legume-oversown para grass pasture was compared with a legume-deficient para grass pasture (control) for botanical stability and animal production under continuous grazing. The oversown treatment was significantly more robust than the control pasture, resisting weed invasion and tolerating adverse seasonal conditions. Animal production from the oversown legume treatment was, on average, 22% higher than the control over a 3-year grazing period.