The legume inoculant industry and inoculant quality control in Australia: 1953 - 2003

Abstract

Fifty years have passed since the first commercial inoculants were manufactured in Australia. Before 1953, various Government Agencies supplied mostly agar cultures with New South Wales Department of Agriculture issuing the first peat-based inoculants. There are no data to indicate the quality of these inoculants, but in the early commercial cultures rhizobia were often outnumbered by contaminants and field failures were widespread. A comprehensive system of quality control was developed from discussions between CSIRO and the University of Sydney. Succeeding quality control bodies have continued on the basis of the original scheme. It set inoculant standards, approved and supplied mother cultures to manufacturers annually, tested all batches of peat inoculants before sale and sampled inoculants at the point of sale. In this paper we describe the history of Australian legume inoculants, list the commercial firms and key people involved and the period during which they were active. We tabulate the strains involved, indicate the period of their use and highlight some of the problems encountered with them and with inoculant production. We indicate the personnel who have been particularly active in the quality control of inoculants, the funding bodies who have supported the work and stress the reliance of the control laboratories on the help of many agricultural scientists in Australia. An important part of the control scheme has been the implementing of standards without resort to legislation. This has depended on the cooperation of the manufacturers involved and has allowed flexibility in applying the standards.

European Origin of Bradyrhizobium Populations Infecting Lupins and Serradella in Soils of Western Australia and South Africa

“…and Mirbelia floribunda Benth., respectively, growing at Carrabin within 20 m of serradella trials and a narrow-leaf lupin crop. We also included the A13 and W72 strains that had been used as inocula in Western Australia before strains WU425 and WSM471 were developed (5). Four strains originated from native Western Australian legumes, whereas six other strains were isolated by Lafay and Burdon (19) from native legumes growing in New South Wales (Table 1).…”

Cultivation of Methylotrophs

“…The development of elite rhizobial strains for commercial application in agriculture also requires an assessment of their ability to fix nitrogen optimally with the host legume species. The legume inoculant industry in Australia has developed strains of rhizobial methylobacteria for use with the pasture legume Listia bainesii [99]. Authentication and N 2 fixation experiments can be conducted using a variety of growth systems, for example, pots or enclosed vials filled with a sterile vermiculite or sand medium.…”

The Physiological Mechanisms of Desiccation Tolerance in Rhizobia

“…The inoculant was mixed with sand, spread over the soil and harrowed in. Since then, the practice has become widespread and legume inoculants vary not only in formulation and efficacy but also in rate and method of application (Bullard et al, 2005).…”