Experimental studies of grass-legume associations

The value of grass-legume associations is still under discussion from both agronomic and breeding points of view, chiefly because of contrasting conclusions on the nature of interference effects.A set of experiments was carried out at Lodi in 1980-84, to determine the effect of interspecific interference on the single partners and on associations as a whole.The general conclusions drawn from these experiments and their consequences for breeding strategies are summarized and discussed in this paper.Comparison of different models for analysis of the experimental data suggested a possible explanation of the different opinions on the nature of interference effects.