Evaluation of forage production in the mixed cropping of Golsefid and Maragheh vetch cultivars as winter crop under cold dryland conditions

  Drylands occupy about 6.2 million ha of the area of Iran. They are mainly used for wheat and food legume production. However, the rainfed cultivation of forage crops is carried out on only 120 thousand ha of dryland farms, which comprise less than 2 % of the total arable drylands in Iran. Considerable variation has been reported in herbage and grain yields of the improved cultivars of vetches (Vicia spp.) under rainfed conditions. Mixed cropping of cereals with forage legumes can improve the quantity and quality of fodder compared to sole cropping of cereal plants (Alizadeh & da Silva, 2013). There is no published research to evaluate the agronomic performance of different vetch cultivars in the mixed cropping under cold dryland conditions. This research was conducted to compare different mixing ratios of two vetch species (Vicia pannonica Crantz and Vicia villosa subsp. varia (Host) Corb.) under cold dryland condition of Maragheh. Materials and This research was conducted as randomized complete blocks design with three replications during two growing seasons (2015-2017) at the main station of dryland agricultural research institute of Maragheh. The treatments included pure stands of smooth vetch (cv. Maragheh) and Hungarian vetch (cv. Golsefid) along with additive series of their mixed cropping at seed rate of 10 % Comparison of means and estimation of land equivalent ratios were conducted using dry forage yield. Golsefid as a winter type vetch produced 1953 (kg/ha) dry biomass over two years. Pure stands of cv. Maragheh were completely damaged from cold and freezing during the second year. This was expected for Maragheh as Vicia dasycarpa is not a cold tolerant vetch and may sustain damage during winter and under severe cold conditions (Alizadeh et al., 2013). However, Maragheh at different mixtures was able to successfully pass winter in both years of the experiment . The highest dry biomass (2889 kg/ha) was obtained from the mixture of 70% Golsefid and 30% Maragheh in the first year. However, the highest land equivalent ratio (1.34) was obtained from 60% Golsefid and 40% Maragheh in their mixed cropping. It was concluded that the mixed cropping of Golsefid and Maragheh cultivars were superior than their pure stands in terms of forage yield production. According to our results, the mixture of 60% Golsefid and 40% Maragheh can be advisable for Maragheh cold drylands and other similar growing conditions.