Ex situ evaluation of cultivation potential in wild populations of large-flowered vetch (Vicia grandiflora)

Large-flowered vetch (Vicia grandiflora Scop.) is widely present in many Eurasian wild floras, where it has significance in improving grassland communities and environment-friendly uses as a cover crop and green manure. The main goal of this study was to assess the possibility of transforming large-flowered vetch into a field crop and assess the basics for its breeding. A small-plot trial was carried out in three consecutive growing seasons 2005-2008 in Novi Sad, including twelve large-flowered wild populations collected at various sites in Serbia and France from 2002 to 2004 and multiplied ex situ during subsequent years. The population MM 02/01 of Serbian origin had the highest three-year average proportion of plants surviving winter (0.96). The smallest average number of days from sowing to first flower was in the population MM 03/10 (199 days). The population MM 03/08 produced the highest forage dry matter (8.0 Mg ha(-1)) yield stage between full flowering and forming first pods. The highest seed yield was in the population MM 03/10 (2,084 kg ha(-1)). Forage dry matter yield was significantly correlated to main stem length (r = 0.932), number of fertile nodes (r = 0.710), number of internodes (r = 0.640) and number of leaves (r = 0.604). Seed yield was significantly correlated to number of pods (r = 0.930), number of seeds (r = 0.883), number of stems (r = 0.882) and number of fertile nodes (r = 0.768). Our study confirmed that large-flowered vetch may represent a stable and quality source of forage in temperate regions such as the Balkans, as well as that it may have its place in various crop rotations and farming systems. At the same time, the existing phenotypic variability offers a solid basis for further improvement of this species