ACTA AGRONOMICA TOMUS 31. (A MTA AGRÁRTUDOMÁNYI KÖZLEMÉNYEI, 1982)

1982 / 1-2. szám - I. BÓCSA-J. KRISZTIÁN-B. KADLICSKÓ-A. MÁTÉ-I. KÉSMÁRKI: Attempts at introducting crownvetch (Coronilla varia L.) in Hungary

2 I. BÓCSA et al. value had been clarified. In the United States and Southern Canada the species is widely grown; in the United States its production area extends from Maine to Georgia and from the Atlantic to East Dakota (MCKEE 1971), and three state certified varieties are already in cultivation. In Europe, despite the fact that it is native here and not in America, it has not been cultivated so far. The reasons for this are unknown, but it is particularly strange because several hundred publications dealing with this plant have appeared so far in the United States, so informations on the favour­able experience gained during its cultivation should have been available in Europe for some time. Even at the experimental level only three researchers are known to have determined its feed value and productivity compared to alfalfa: LENOBLE—PAPIINEAU (1975) in France and HOFBAUER (1973. 1977) in Czechoslovakia. The conclusion arrived at in both countries is that crownvetch is a perennial leguminous roughage crop with excellent quality components which under certain ecological and soil conditions is a highly promising addi­tion to the fairly limited choice of leguminous species. In Hungary preliminary data on the possibility of introducing crown­vetch have been published by BÓCSA (1974, 1976, 1977). On the basis of the USA data systematic introduction was begun in 1973. In the course of this work all the available French and American varieties were obtained and have been compared with alfalfa on various types of soil. Parallel to this work 0.5 tons of Penngift seed were imported from the United States and used to launch large-scale trials in a number of farms on areas of 1 — 2 ha each, adapt­ing the successive phases of cultural practices as described in the American literature. Selection was also begun, aimed first at rapid initial growth and faster sprouting, as well as at reduced BNPA /l-nitro-propionic acid) content, since this is harmful to monogastric animals. The present paper is confined to a report on comparative trials with crownvetch and alfalfa species and varieties, and to the responses of the two species to liming and nutrition, and considers the prospects of cultivating crownvetch in Hungary. Material and methods The first comparative trial with crownvetch and alfalfa was set up at Kompolt in 1974, on a chernozem brown forest soil with a slightly acidic reaction, with no CaC03 in the topsoil, a readily available P205 content and a medium amount of K20. The aim was to establish the yield potential of crownvetch compared to alfalfa on this type of soil, and also to study its persistency and determine the optimum spacing, that is, the number of germs per metre and the distance between the rows. Crownvetch was sown in rows at a distance of 20, 30, 40 and 50 cm from one another, with 100 seeds per metre, which corresponds to 20, 12, 10 and 8 kg/ha seed, respectively. The crownvetch variety was Penngift, the alfalfa variety Mv. Synalfa. The plots were arranged in a random block design with five replications; each plot was 12 m2 in size. The green crop, the dry matter percentage and the crude protein percentage were examined. The data presented refer to 5 years; the trial will be continued until total Acta Agronomica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 31, 1982

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