PELLETED INOCULATED LEGUME SEED

IN NEW ZEALAND extensive areas of new land are being sown to pasture each year. In many of these areas the soil does not contain the 'beneficial rhizobial bacteria which nodulate the roots of common pasture legumes. In some cases, if rhizobia are present in the soils they are only in low numbers ; also many strains present in the soils are not effective on all clovers being sown. This deficiency can be corrected by the cheap, simple procedure of seed inoculation. However, if full value is to be obtained from inoculation, the seed must be sown under conditions which favour the survival of the applied bacteria. Provided inoculated seed is sown promptly into a well-prepared seedbed and adequately covered, excellent results will be obtained. However, several practical problems at times make this difficult. With land development now largely confined to more difficult soils and situations, inoculated seed may have to be held after inoculation, is sometimes sown into dry soil under dry conditions, and is frequently broadcast without adequate covering. In such circumstances, there is a gradual desiccation and death of the bacteria. Sometimes when sowing inoculated seed it is an advantage to be able to sow the seed with acid superphosphate, but this practice is injurious to the legume bacteria.