This explains why more land is
planted to lucerne than any other perennial pasture legume in SA. If lucerne did not have a bloat problem,
there would be little need to use alternative perennial legumes. Many farmers complain about grass invasion
in their lucerne lands. This is actually
an indication that the soil is poorly mineralised . Lucerne
is particularly dependant upon calcium and phosphorous. Liming to correct pH is most certainly no
assurance that calcium levels in the soil will be built to optimize; very often
they will fall far short of this all important mineral. Huge – very costly and wasteful - applications
of super phosphate are needed to build soil P to the desired level. For this reason most farmers don’t apply
sufficient P, consequently lucerne suffers from P hunger. This reduces its
vigour , thus giving grass weeds the competitive edge. In the long run, building P with rock phosphate
is far more effective and less costly.
For top yields and the production of high quality lucerne , soil minerals
should be fully balanced according to the Albrecht model.
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