Correlations between morpho-agronomic traits and quality components of birdsfoot trefoil

Abstract

Birdsfoot trefoil is a perennial legume for the production of high-quality forage. Improving the production and quality of forage is one of the strategic objectives of breeding programs. The genotypes for this trial were selected from promising offspring collected from local populations in Bosnia and Herzegovina. A trial with eight genotypes (7 promising lines and 1 variety) was designed in a randomized block system with four replicates. In the first growth, 11 components of yield and quality of biomass were analyzed, and in the second growth, four additional parameters for seed production. In the first growth, highly significant correlations were found between plant height and the proportion of leaves (0.85**) and the yield of green matter and dry matter (0.81**), while a high negative correlation was found between the nitrogen-free extract (NFE) and the crude protein content (-0.79**). In the regrowth, statistically highly significant (p<0.01) positive correlations were found between the content of NFE and ash (0.77**). Statistically significant (p<0.05) positive relationships were found between green matter yield and dry matter yield (0.81**), green matter yield and stem diameter (0.79*), seed yield and number of pods (0.83*), and cellulose content and plant height (0.73*). The identification of positive correlations for certain productive and nutritional traits will be used in breeding programs for the creation of new varieties with improved forage quality.