Economic and biological traits and study results of the new sandy sainfoin variety (<i>Onobrychis arenaria</i>) ‘Atamansky 20’

Abstract

The purpose of the current study was to estimate the economic and biological characteristics and properties of a new, highly productive sainfoin variety resistant to various stressful conditions. The study was carried out as part of the competitive variety testing of the laboratory for breeding and seed production of perennial grass of the “ARC “Donskoy” in 2018–2021. The experimental sowing for the competitive variety testing was done in spring, with a seeding rate of 4 million germinated seeds per ha. The area of plots was 25 m2 , 4–6 times of repetition. There has been identified the new sainfoin variety ‘Atamansky 20’, an artificial synthetic population obtained by the methods of individual family selection and poly-crossing of the varieties ‘Atamansky’, ‘Zernogradsky 2’ and ‘Veles’. The variety belongs to the sandy species. The sainfoin variety ‘Atamansky 20’ during the years of competitive variety testing significantly exceeded the standard variety ‘Zernogradsky 2’. The green mass productivity of the variety ‘Atamansky 20’ was higher than that of the standard variety on 4.5 t/ha, dry matter on 1.4 t/ha, seeds on 0.14 t/ha, or on 17.1%, 20.6% and 21.2%, respectively. According to raw and digestible protein percentage per hectare, the sainfoin variety ‘Atamansky 20’ exceeded the standard one on 20.1% and 25.7%, respectively; gross energy yield on 12.3%. When using the sainfoin variety ‘Atamansky 20’ as a green manure crop there can be used an average of 297 kg/ha N, 65 kg/ha P2 O5 , 159 kg/ha K2 O, which is respectively on 32%, 27% and 30% more than used when the green mass of ‘Zernogradsky 2’ is applied into the soil.