Determination of agricultural characteristics of some sainfoin (onobrychis viciifolia scop.) genotypes

Our country is among the self-sufficient countries in terms of agricultural production. On the other hand, population growth is much higher than in developed countries. In the coming years, our food production may not be able to respond to the increasing population. Therefore, we have to increase our animal and plant production. Using high-yield plant varieties and animal breeds is not enough to solve this problem. In addition, the fact that our pastures are inadequate and the animals grazing in these areas are inefficient and high in number causes low animal production. In short, we can say that we need quality forage plants to purchase animal products that are of vital importance in the nutrition of our people. Our pastures need a plant source that can both feed the animals and protect the soil, grow strongly, hold the soil with its roots covering the soil, and provide very good feed. Plant genetic resources are subject to genetic erosion due to environmental and other pressures. Detecting, collecting and preserving the diversity in plant genetic resources is extremely important for the sustainability of plant diversity. Genetic diversity is concentrated where local varieties, wild relatives and transitional forms of species coexist. Species contain millions of genotypes within themselves. The collected samples are a very small model of the total variation. Therefore, it is important to collect samples that will represent the widest variation in preserving plant genetic resources. Türkiye is the gene center of many plant species and is one of the richest countries in the world in terms of plant diversity. 170 sainfoin species are known in Türkiye. Wild sainfoins are spread over a wide area from the Batlik Sea to the Mediterranean, Asia Minor and Siberia. It is especially concentrated and diversified in the Anatolia-Iran-Caucasus triangle. Of these regions, 32 of 53 species (60.4%) are endemic in Iran, 27 of 52 species (51.9%) in Turkey, and 21 of 39 species (53.4%) in the Caucasus. In line with these data, it turns out that Turkey is one of the important development centers for this breed. Some agricultural characteristics of sainfoin plants, which were previously collected from this region of our country (Kars, Ardahan and Artvin) and breeding studies have been started, constitute the subject of this research. In the study to be carried out, agricultural characteristics will be determined in 20 of the selected sainfoin lines.