PASTURES FOR PROSPERITY .3. THE FUTURE FOR NEW TROPICAL PASTURE PLANTS

The area of sown pastures in northern Australia should expand to 7.5 M ha by 2010, supporting about 4 M beef cattle (30-35% of the northern h erd). The main constraints to the future use of sown tropical pasture plants are perceived to be: declining research funds; the high costs o f establishing and maintaining improved pastures; uncertain commodity prices; an unreliable climate; the limited availability of well-adapte d legumes in some areas; instability of legume based pastures, particu larly in relation to weed invasion; diseases and pests of legumes; and concerns about the environmental impact of introduced plants. Several of these constraints are amenable to research. Incremental gains in r eliability or reductions in costs of establishment are predicted. Well -planned collection, introduction and evaluation of exotic plants will continue to provide a steady flow of new pasture cultivars, but it wi ll be necessary to address concerns about the environmental impact of introduced plants. There will be restrictions in future on the release of new cultivars that could become environmental weeds. Stable contro l of anthracnose disease of style is achievable within a 10-year timef rame, using modern plant-breeding techniques. Several possible approac hes to reducing the maintenance fertiliser requirements of sown pastur es are discussed. In order to achieve satisfactory progress in the fac e of these constraints, it will be necessary to maintain an adequate l evel of research funding and a balanced research portfolio that addres ses a range of industry priorities.