Phenotypic variation of Vicia pannonica Crantz (var. pannonica and var purpurascens ) in central Turkey

Abstract

Hungarian vetch (Vicia pannonica Crantz.) is an important forage crop in both central Turkey (CT) and central European countries. It can be grown in CT as winter crop, but frequent spring droughts cause yield losses. Our objectives were (I) to investigate agro-biological variation among populations, (II) to identify useful plant characters and (III) to develop selection strategies. Forty-five accessions of both var. pannonica and var. purpurascens were evaluated for the 11 plant characters in 2002/03 cropping season. Var. pannonica was late flowering, had more stems and seeds per pod, and longer stems and pods. Var. purpurascens had earlier flowering, more days to physiological maturity, more pods, greater plant biomass and heavier seeds. As var. purpurascens was early flowering, its longer seed-filling period is likely to contribute to greater seed size and weight. However, in var. pannonica, late flowering and ensuing delayed maturity caused strong negative associations between days-toharvest and other characters. If the earliness, higher biomass and seed size from var. purpurascens, and the many long stems and long pods from var. pannonica could be incorporated into one or more genotypes through Mendelian crossings, seed and hay yields would be substantially increased.

A comparison of six vetches (Vicia spp.) for developmental rate, herbage yield and seed yield in semi‐arid central Turkey

“…Nar matured more rapidly than the other autumn‐sown vetches. High seedling vigour associated with large seed size enabled it to mature relatively early, and minimize the deleterious effect of drought on seed development (Baker, ; Stebbins, ; Berger, ; Berger et al ., ; Fırıncıoğlu et al ., , 2012). As a response to widely fluctuating air temperatures at the vegetative stage in Y3, the SY of Nar was reduced by 24%, compared to the previous two seasons (Table ).…”

“…(,b) and Fırıncıoğlu et al . (, , , , ). In Vicia species, a highly responsive phenology optimizes their adaptation to the different environmental conditions: plants flower comparatively early in short seasons and vice versa in long seasons (Berger et al ., ).…”

“…Seed size in various legume species has been long recognized to be positively associated with seedling vigour (Stebbins, ; Qiu and Mosjidis ; Qiu et al . ) and plant productivity (Blum and Lehrer, ; Çakmakcı and Açıkgöz, ; Berger et al ., ,b; Fırıncıoğlu et al ., ,b, , ).…”