Abstract

ABSTRACT Yellow serradella (Ornithopus compressus L.) and pink serradella (Ornithopus sativus Brot.) are two new annual forage legume species for infertile, acidic, and light texture soils, in dryland areas of the Mediterranean zone of Chile. Seven cultivars of yellow serradella and one cultivar of pink serradella, developed by the Center for Legumes in Mediterranean Agriculture (CLIMA), Australia, were characterized. O. compressus presented a high to medium hardseededness (53 to 100% at the beginning of the second growth season), while O. sativus presented a very low hardseededness (4%). A variable range of precocity was detected (108 to 143 days to flowering). The growth habit is semi-erect to erect, flowers are yellow in O. compressus and pink in O. sativus. The dry matter and seed production is comparable, and in some years superior, to that of species of traditional use in these areas, like subterranean clover (Trifolium subterraneum L.) and hualputra (Medicago polymorpha L.), standing out serradellas especially for their high production in infertile soils of the interior dry lands of Cauquenes, in the third year of evaluation (2200 to 4200 kg DM ha-1, 650 to 1440 kg seeds ha-1) The available phenological and productive data allow to think that the development of pastures based on serradellas, could mean an important contribution to the improvement of the pastoral production of extensive marginal areas of the non-irrigated Mediterranean land of Chile.