INFLUENCE OF NURSE CROPS ON SEED PRODUCTIVITY OF BIRDSFOOT DEER VETCH IN THE MIDDLE TRANS-URAL ZONE

Abstract

The article has shown research results on most appropriate nurse crop for birdsfoot deer vetch when it is cultivated for seeds. The experiment was conducted in Udmurt Research Institute of Agriculture in 2010-2014. Birdsfoot deer vetch in the Middle Trans-Ural zone is restricted due to its biological features as weak resistance to suppression in the first year, high pod shatter and small seeds that make seed harvesting difficult. The nurse crop is considered to be one of the most important factors for sustainable and high crop yield of birdsfoot deer vetch. The authors investigated spring wheat, oats and barley for grain and pea-oats mixture for green feed. On average, seed productivity of birdsfoot deer vetch was 183-312 kg/ha during 3 years. The article outlines increasing of seed yield when being sown under spring wheat (265 kg/ha) in comparison with other crops. High seed productivity of birdsfoot deer vetch without nurse crop occurred due to big amount of footstalks (622 items pro sq meter), 14 little beans on the footstalk and 14 seeds in the little bean. On average, germination was 63-71 %, mass of 1000 seeds was 1.03-1.14 g and birdsfoot deer vetch without nurse crop tended to get seeds of higher germination. The researchers observed seeds of best quality in the first year; their laboratory germination was 78-86 % and mass of 1000 seeds was 1.11-1.36 g.