EVALUATION OF CLOVERS IN DRY HILL COUNTRY .1. GENERAL OBJECTIVES AND DESCRIPTION OF SITES AND PLANT-MATERIAL

Pastures in summer-dry hill country typically contain low proportions of productive legumes such as white clover (Trifolium repens L.) and subterranean clover (T. subterraneum L.). This reflects the combined stresses of drought, low soil fertility, and grazing management, but there is no clear indication as to which attributes clover plants require to persist in these pastures. A national evaluation of nine subterranean clover cultivars and 10 white clover lines was initiated to identify plant characteristics associated with persistence and productivity of both species in grazed, summer-dry hill country, so that these characteristics can be incorporated within future plant introduction and breeding programmes. This paper describes the eight experimental sites and the attributes of the clover material evaluated. Detailed results are given in the 10 papers following.