PRELIMINARY RESULTS OF STUDIES INTO HUNGARIAN SAINFOIN IN PERM TERRITORY

Abstract

Results are given from the preliminary four-year research conducted under conditions of Perm Territory into five varieties of a perennial leguminous crop, Hungarian sainfoin, being a new crop for the region; these are Peschany 1251, Petushok, SibNIIK 30, Mikhailovskiy 5, and Mikhailovskiy 10. The Sarga cultivar of changeable alfalfa was used as the control. It has been shown that all the varieties of Hungarian sainfoin sustained their first winter well, but in what follows, as the herbage grew old, the number of plants overwintered decreased. Under local conditions, the cultivars Petushok, SibNIIK 30, Mikhailovskiy 5, and Mikhailovskiy 10 formed two cuts of green mass during all the years of the use. The dates of herbage formation as to cuts were found. Productivity of green and dry mass in various cultivars of Hungarian sainfoin was determined. There are given certain yield structure elements: height of plants as to cuts, weight of one shoot, and mass fraction of leaves in green mass yield. The fodder quality characteristics such as metabolizable energy concentration in absolutely dry mass of all the cultivars, crude protein content, and so on were determined. All the cultivars studied showed the maturity of seeds by the middle of June in the first year of the use. Seed productivity was from 5.0 in Peschany 1251 to 6.3 centner per ha in Petushok.