Ecological sustainability and stability of quantitative signs in vetch (Vicia villosa) varieties

Abstract

Ecological sustainability and stability by basic quantitative signs of winter vetch genotypes (Vicia villosa) has been assessed. The experiment was conducted in three environments in the central northern Bulgaria during 2014-16 cropping seasons. The following characteristics have been assessed: i) in the beginning of flowering stage – above ground fresh weight (leaves + stems), root length, root fresh weight, nodule number per plant, nodule weight per plant ii) in the technical maturity of seeds stage - seed weight per plant. Analysis of variance showed highly significant differences for the GE (genotype-environment) interaction for most of the signs indicating the possibility of selection for stable entries. Suitable varieties in the direction of both, fresh biomass productivity and ecological plasticity were found. Some of them were considered suitable for growing in a wide range of environmental conditions.