Document Type : Scientific Letters
Authors
1
Associated Professor, Natural Resources of Gene Bank Group, Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands, Agricultural Research Education and extension Organization, Tehran, Iran,
2
Professor, Rangelands Research Division, Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands, Agricultural Research Education and extension Organization, Tehran, Iran
3
Assistance Professor, Department of Natural resource, Tabriz Agricultural and Natural Resources Research Center, Agricultural Research Education and extension Organization, Tabriz, Iran
4
Associated Professor, Department of Natural Resources, Isfahan Agricultural and Natural Resources Research Center, Agricultural Research Education and extension Organization, Esfahan, Iran
5
Researcher, Department of Natural Resources, Lorestan Agricultural and Natural Resources Research Center, Agricultural Research Education and extension Organization, Lorestan, Iran
6
Researcher, Department of Natural Resources, Zanjan Agricultural and Natural Resources Research Center, Agricultural Research Education and extension Organization, Zanjan, Iran
10.22092/irn.2025.370550.1671
Abstract
Sainfoin is a fodder plant and possesses high nutritional value for livestock. This plant is suitable for cultivation in both irrigated and dryland farming systems. Feeding ruminants with infected plants carrying powdery mildew can result in abortion. Sainfoin powdery mildew disease is caused by the fungus Leveillula taurica, which produces necrotic leaf-tissue symptoms and visible spots on the plants. Contamination of the plant with this disease, particularly under severe conditions, leads to reduced plant growth and smaller inflorescences, ultimately resulting in a noticeable decrease in yield. The main stage during which the disease inflicts its most serious damage occurs in the second and third cuttings. To introduce Sainfoin varieties tolerant to surface powdery mildew, the breeding of two Sainfoin varieties, Bordbar 1 and Bordbar 2, was carried out in three stages over 12 years. The breeding method in this study was comparing and selecting superior populations and purifying them regarding powdery mildew tolerance and forage yield relative to native populations. In the preliminary experiment, 60 Sainfoin populations susceptible to powdery mildew were cultivated and evaluated at the Alborz Karaj station for four years (2008–2011). In the second project, 19 superior populations were cultivated and evaluated across five provinces for four years (2013–2016). In the extension research program, two superior tolerant populations, 3001 and 15353, were cultivated and evaluated alongside a native control population (susceptible to powdery mildew) at ten experimental locations (farmers' fields) for 3 years (2018–2019). The results showed that the average disease severity index of the native populations (control) exceeded 25% in all locations, classifying them as very susceptible to powdery mildew. The average disease severity index of the two populations, 3001 and 15353, across all locations during the three experimental periods was less than 10%, indicating that these populations were tolerant to powdery mildew. The average forage dry-matter yield of population 3001 (Bordbar 1) in the first phase, second phase, and the extension research project was 7.07, 5.7, and 7.7 tons/ha, respectively. The average forage dry-matter yield of population 15353 (Bordbar 2) in the first and second phases and the extension research project was 5.43, 5.4, and 7.40 tons/ha, respectively. Thus, the two new varieties, Bordbar 1 and Bordbar 2, were recommended by the relevant organizations as newly improved varieties for farmers in the country’s forage-production areas.
Highlights
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Keywords
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