THE ROLE OF GENETIC-RESOURCES IN DEVELOPING IMPROVED PASTURES IN SEMIARID AND SUBHUMID NORTHERN AUSTRALIA

The role of introduced pasture species in the drier areas of northern Australia, and the need for genetic resource support, are reviewed. In troduced legumes are the key to improving animal production from the l ess fertile duplex soils, whereas introduced grasses have been of grea ter importance on the more fertile and heavier-textured soils. There i s increasing recognition of the need for legumes adapted to clay soils . All of the successful legume and grass cultivars are of exotic speci es. The development of useful cultivars and the role of the Australian Tropical Forages Genetic Resource Centre are discussed, using the rec ently released pasture legume Desmanthus virgatus as an example.