Symbiotic effectiveness of Rhizobium leguminosarum bv. trifolii collected from pastures in south-western Victoria

Abstract

Summary. The whole-soil inoculation method was used to assess the symbiotic effectiveness of rhizobia populations in soils collected from 18 randomly-selected pastures in south-western Victoria. This was part of a larger study which described the condition of pasture within this region. Based on the shoot weights of test subterranean clover plants, cv. Mount Barker, effectiveness varied from 36 to 94% depending on the site of rhizobia collection. This range was wider than that found in an earlier survey of rhizobia effectiveness conducted nearby. WU95, the commercial inoculant for subterranean clover, was significantly more effective than 9 of the rhizobia samples. Rhizobia from 2 sites were especially poor and their effectiveness (37%) was not significantly different from the nil inoculum control (28%). Symbiotic effectiveness was not related to soil pH, available sulfur, available phosphorus, total nitrogen or mean annual rainfall for each site where rhizobia were collected. After pooling data for all sites, the shoot weights were significantly related to the proportions of plants with nodules assigned high nodulation scores. In contrast, low scores, within 1 of 6 categories, did not significantly affect shoot weight. The technique of using mean nodulation score was less capable of discriminating differences in symbiotic effectiveness, compared with assessment based on test plant weight.