Genetic variability of yield and its components in spring vetch cultivars

Breeding of both winter and spring common vetch and creation of new cultivars are based upon a rather wide variability of morphological traits within the species of Picia sativa L. A three-year (2002-2004) small-plot trial was conducted at the Institute's Experiment Field at Rimski Sancevi. It included five spring vetch cultivars of different origin: Novi Beograd from Serbia and Montenegro, Slavej frorn the FYR of Macedonia, Serva-174 from Spain, Tazza from Germany and RCAT066401 from Hungary. The greatest plant height was found in RCAT066401 (120 cm), while the smallest plant height was found in Serva-174 (79 cm) and Tazza (77 cm). Number of stems per plant ranged from 1.3 in Slavej to 3.3 in Serva-174, while number of internodes ranged from 13.1 in Tazza to 19.0 in Novi Beograd and 20.1 in RCAT066401. RCAT066401 had the largest plant mass (43.83 g), while Tazza had the smallest plant mass (23.92 g). RCAT066401 also had the highest yield of fresh weight (33.0 t ha(-1)), closely followed by Novi Beograd (31.8 t ha(-1)) and Slavej (31.0 t ha(-1)). Due to the highest proportion of dry matter, Slavej and Novi Beograd had the highest yield of hay (8.6 t ha(-1) and 8.3 t ha(-1)).