Evaluation of Forage Yield and Morphological Characteristics of Imported Berseem Clover Cultivars

Study and comparison of potential forage yield and morphological traits of imported Berseem cultivars with current clover cultivars, will increase diversity among clover cultivars and increase forage production in the country. This experiment was conducted in a randomized complete block design with thirteen cultivars and four replications in Karaj. The two-year combined analysis of variance showed that the effects of year and cultivars were significant for the fresh and dry matter forage yield and morphological traits at 1% probability level. This implies to genetic variation among cultivars and differential effect of year on forage production and morphological characteristics of Berseem clover cultivars. Mean comparisons showed that Polycross cultivar with 70.25 and 16.65 tha-1 and Isoleh-e-Mesri cultivar with 48.84 and 10.70 tha-1 had the highest and lowest fresh and dry matter yield, respectively. The effects of cultivar and year on some morphological characteristics such as plant height was significant and there was a positive and significant correlation between these traits and forage yield. The imported cultivars Wiener, Elite 2 and Selected line, and the local cultivars Tolidi-e-Dezful, Polycross Karaj and Sacromont Mazandaran with 68-69 tha-1 fresh and 16-16.5 tha-1 dry matter yield were the best cultivars, and compared to the control cultivar (Tolidi-e-Karaj) showed 7% and 10% superiority for the fresh and dry matter forage yield, respectively. There fore, these cultivars can be recommended for cultivation in Karaj.