Comparison of forage yield and morphological characters of clover cultivars

This experiment was carried out to compare the potential for forage production is 12 clover cultivars in Karaj in three cropping seasons. The experimental design was RCBD with three replications. The results showed that the effects of years, cultivars, cuttings and the interaction of cutting * cultivars were significant for dry matter at 1% probability level. The comparison among different cuttings showed that the highest dry matter were obtained from the first cutting in 1999 and 2001 (2.14 and 2.85 t/ha) respectively, and from the second cutting in 2000 (2.68 t/ha). Generally the first cutting had higher dry matter than other cuttings. Mean comparison for dry matter production, over season, of persian clover cultivars showed that the cultivar Aleshtar with 8.48 t/ha in 1999 and the cultivar Doochin-e-kordestan with 9.31 t/ha in 2001, and the cultivar Aleshtar with 8.53 t/ha had the highest dry matter among all cultivers. Significant difference was also observed in morphological characters among clover cultivars at 1% probability level. Overall, results showed that the Berseem clover for the plant height, the persian clover for the internode length and sub-branches number, and the Red clover for the leaf/stem ratio were superior. Regarding potential for forage production, Aleshtar, Simipilyosum and Tolidy-e-karaj cultivars could be recomended for Karaj region.