Peter W Sale
La Trobe University, Australia
Biography
Peter W Sale has carried out his research for over 30 years to address constraints that limit the productivity of farming systems in eastern and southern Australia. His initial work investigated slow-release P fertilizers for legume-based pastures and he became Lead Investigator in the National Reactive Phosphate Rock Project during the 1990s. Work on the form of applied P changed to the impact of P supply under abiotic stress, focusing on how pasture legumes under water deficit stress respond to P availability. Research then began on how to ameliorate subsoil constraints in cropping land in the Victorian high rainfall zone. This followed requests from grain producers who grew disappointing, low-yielding crops when dry periods occurred during the spring. Dense, dispersive clay subsoils, that restricted root growth and stored little plant-available water, were implicated. Research projects since 2005, on ameliorating these constraints, led to the development of the practice known as subsoil manuring.
Abstract
Abstract : Harvesting rainfall in dense clay subsoils to increase yields of rain-fed crops