The potential of herbaceous native Australian legumes as grain crops: a review

Abstract

Many agricultural systems around the world are challenged by declining soil resources, a dry climate and increases in input costs. The cultivation of plants that are better adapted than current crop species to nutrient poor soils, a dry climate and low-input agricultural systems would aid the continued profitability and environmental sustainability of agricultural systems. This paper examines herbaceous native Australian legumes for their capacity to be developed as grain crops adapted to dry environments. The 14 genera that contain herbaceous species are Canavalia, Crotalaria, Cullen, Desmodium, Glycine, Glycyrrhiza, Hardenbergia, Indigofera, Kennedia, Lotus, Rhynchosia, Swainsona, Trigonella and Vigna. A number of these genera (e.g., Glycine, Crotalaria, Trigonella and Vigna) include already cultivated exotic grain legumes. Species were evaluated based on the extent to which their natural distribution corresponded to arid and semi-arid climatic regions, as well as the existing information on traits related to harvestability (uniformity of ripening, propensity to retain pod, pod shattering and growth habit), grain qualities (seed size, chemistry, color and the absence of toxins) and fecundity. Published data on seed yield were rare, and for many other traits information was limited. The Australian species of Vigna, Canavalia and Desmodium mainly have tropical distributions and were considered poorly suited for semi-arid temperate cropping systems. Of the remaining genera Glycyrrhiza and Crotalaria species showed many suitable traits, including an erect growth habit, a low propensity to shatter, flowers and fruits borne at the end of branches and moderate to large seeds (5 and 38 mg, respectively). The species for which sufficient information was available that were considered highest priority for further investigation were Glycine canescens, Cullen tenax, Swainsona canescens, Swainsona colutoides, Trigonella suavissima, Kennedia prorepens, Glycyrrhiza acanthocarpa, Crotalaria cunninghamii and Rhynchosia minima.

Grain Legumes

“…Crop diversity in time, as in crop rotational design, and in space, such as in intercropping, provides ample opportunities to balance the needs from all these areas. In addition, currently underexplored genetic diversity at the species level offers new chances for further developing grain-legume-based cropping systems (Bell et al 2011). This idea of diversification also extends to more complex systems such as agroforestry, both in tropical (Redhead et al 1983) and temperate (Isaac et al 2013) climates.…”

Phosphorus Nutrition of Proteaceae in Severely Phosphorus-Impoverished Soils: Are There Lessons To Be Learned for Future Crops?

“…We discuss the P-use efficiency of photosynthesis and growth, P-remobilization efficiency and proficiency, and P allocation to seeds. More sustainable, P-efficient cropping systems are urgently needed, and knowledge about native plant physiology in ancient landscapes may guide us toward their development, either through directing the breeding or engineering of existing major crop species or through aiding the development as crops of species that originate from these P-impoverished landscapes (Ryan et al, 2009;Pang et al, 2010aPang et al, , 2010bSuriyagoda et al, 2010;Bell et al, 2011).…”

Building a botanical foundation for perennial agriculture: Global inventory of wild, perennial herbaceous Fabaceae species

“…For example, breeders in Australia identified wild perennial, herbaceous legume crop candidates adapted to dry and hot climates, such as the genus Cullen (Bennett, Ryan, Colmer, & Real, ) . Cullen includes 16 perennial herbaceous/shrubby species with deep taproots and good seed yield (Bell, Bennett, Ryan, & Clarke, ; Bell, Ryan, Bennett, Collins, & Clarke, ). Additional information on these taxa is available within PAPGI.…”