Forage yield and forage quality traits of sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia SCOP.) genotypes and evaluation with biplot analysis

Abstract

The study was conducted to determine forage yield and forage quality traits of some sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia Scop.) genotypes in ecological conditions of Southeastern Anatolian Region, Turkey. Fort this reason, a fixed field trial was carried out during three consecutive years (2009, 2010, 2011) in the research area of GAP International Agricultural Research and Training Center (GAP IARTC) Diyarbakir, Turkey. The combined variance analysis over the three years showed that there has been highly significant (P < 0.01) differences among the years and the genotypes in terms all of the investigated traits. However, the genotype x year interaction was found statistically significant (P < 0.01) only for fresh forage and dry matter yield traits. Additionally, the three-year averages, the investigated traits were ranged in the following intervals among the genotypes; Fresh forage yield (FFY): 18.09-37.70 t ha(-1), Dry matter yield (DMY): 4.74-9.63 t ha(-1), Acid detergent fiber (ADF): 29.49%-32.70%, Digestible dry matter (DDM): 63.43%-65.93%, Neutral detergent fiber (NDF): 39.47%-43.21%, Dry matter intake (DMI): 2.81%-3.06% of animal live weight, Crude protein content (CPC): 14.02%-15.74% and Relative feed value (RFV) 139.9-156.7. The results of biplot analysis proved that Lutfibey and Ozerbey-03 sainfoin cultivars were found more superior than the other sainfoin genotypes in terms of important forage yield and forage quality traits in the Southeast Anatolia Region.