Desmanthus: AGRONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS, GERMPLASM RESOURCES, AND FORAGE POTENTIAL IN THE CARIBBEAN

W.D. Pitman, M.B. Adjei and M.W. Michaud

No 259404, 26th Annual Meeting, July 29 to August 4, 1990, Mayaguez, Puerto Rico from Caribbean Food Crops Society

Abstract: The genus Desmanthus includes tropical and temperate species, with a center of origin in the Caribbean basin. Ecotypes range from 2m high Q. viroatus shrubs to the prostrate fi. deoressus. Adaptation ranges from heavy clays to coarse sands and from semi-arid to wet equatorial rainfall zones. High-quality, palatable forage is characteristic, although poor acceptance by cattle of germplasm on acid, infertile soils has been observed. Age or physiological stage at defoliation affects regrowth potential. Some accessions of perennial shrubs have been called annuals due to failure to regenerate following defoliation. Collections of Desmanthus include almost 300 accessions at CSIRO, over 150 accessions at CIAT, plus collections at ILCA, CARDI, and the USDA. Forage potential includes pastures, protein banks and cut-and-carry systems. However, identification of appropriate germplasm for specific sites and determination of defoliation management for sustained, productive use have not been adequately determined. This lack of information limits commercial use of Desmanthus germplasm.

Keywords: Crop Production/Industries; Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 7
Date: 1990-07-29
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/259404/files/26_68.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ags:cfcs90:259404

DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.259404

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in 26th Annual Meeting, July 29 to August 4, 1990, Mayaguez, Puerto Rico from Caribbean Food Crops Society
Bibliographic data for series maintained by AgEcon Search ().