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Book of Abstracts First Legume Society Conference 2013: A Legume Odyssey Novi Sad, Serbia, 9-11 May 2013
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KEYNOTE LECTURE
Legume seed production, meeting market requirements and economic impacts
Birte Boelt
Department of Agroecology, Aarhus University, Denmark
Among the forage legumes alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) is the most important crop with white clover
(Trifolium repens L.) coming second. The major seed producers of alfalfa is USA (California, Idaho
and Washington), Canada and France, whereas white clover seed predominantly is produced in
New Zealand, USA (Oregon) and Denmark. Seed yield traits has not been of highest priority in
forage legume breeding programmes, however, with the increasing demand for plant products for
food, feed and bioenergy a high seed yield potential is required to allow for the commercial
success of new forage legume varieties. Agronomic research in white clover seed production was
carried out in the Department of Agroecology, Aarhus University, Denmark, where the influence
of harvest methods on seed yield and seed quality was evaluated in 2010-2012. In a field
experiment performed in three consecutive years seed yield was determined and seed samples
were identified for the analysis of germination in relations to seed colour. The traditional harvest
method is swathing followed by combining after 3-5 days of drying. Precipitation during this
period is likely to initiate germination resulting in high seed yield loss. Overall it was concluded
that desiccation with MCPA and/or Reglone (a.i. diquat) did not negatively influence seed yield
or seed quality and the necessary drying period may be shorter than 3-5 days. Detailed results
from this and other experiments in forage legume seed production are presented during the talk
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