Herbage and seed yields of Vica and Lathyrus species under alpine grassland conditions

WANG Yun wen 1, NAN Zhi biao, WANG Yan rong 1, LI Chun jie 1, MA Long xi 2 (1. Gansu Grassland Ecological Research Institute, Lanzhou, Gansu, 730020, China; 2. Grassland Management Station of Xiahe County, Xiahe, Gansu, 747100, China)

annual forage legumes; Vicia spp; Lathyrus spp; herbage and seed yields

Five annual forage legume species, 10 lines of each, were evaluated for their productivity under alpine grassland conditions in 1998. The species tested included common vetch (Vicia sativa), wolly pod vetch (V.villosa), narbon vetch (V.narbonensis), common chickling (Lathyrus sativus) and dwarf chickling (L.cicera). All of them were introduced from ICARDA. Sixteen of 50 lines tested produced mature seeds in 1998 and were evaluated further in 1999, they were 9 common vetch lines, 4 narbon vetch lines, 2 dwarf chickling lines and 1 common chickling line. The mean herbage dry matter yields in 1998 and 1999 were 6 509.5 and 5 489.1 kg/ha for common vetch, 3 398.0 and 2 786.7 kg/ha for narbon vetch, 7 610.3 and 4 761.9 kg/ha for dwarf chickling, and 5 804.7 and 3 858.2 kg/ha for common chickling, respectively. Whereas the mean seed yields in both year were 509.7 and 1 010.0 kg/ha for common vetch, 536.0 and 1 073.6 kg/ha for narbon vetch, 152.2 and 732.7 kg/ha for dwarf chickling, 16.5 and 12.8 kg/ha for common chickling, respectively. All of 10 tested wolly pod vetch lines, 8 dwarf chickling lines and 9 common chickling lines did not produce mature seeds. Based on both herbage and seed productivity of each lines in two consecutive years, common vetch was identified as a most promising species for hay making under alpine grassland conditions. Among common vetch lines tested lines 2556,2560 and 2566 showed both higher herbage and seed yields. The seed yields of these 3 lines , for instance, were 19.6%～77.4% higher than the control variety V.sativa cv 333/A, which will be evaluated and selected further. Herbage and seed yields of common vetch lines were negatively correlated, their priority in breeding programs should be adjusted based on breeding objectives. Some aspects of annual forage legumes breeding and extension were discussed.