FUNCTIONAL RELATIONS BETWEEN MORPHOLOGICAL PARAMETERS AND YIELD VARIATION IN SOME FORMS OF BIRD'S-FOOT TREFOIL (Lotus corniculatus L.)

Bird's-foot trefoil ensures the perennity of the meadows arranged vertically altitudinal and contributes to their sustainable use. For the establishment of sown meadows and oversowing of permanent grasslands, valuable Bird's-foot trefoil varieties are needed, adapted to the climatic conditions of the area and with high production potential. The present paper is part of such an approach and aims to evaluate a collection of 16 forms of Bird's-foot trefoil, representing a diverse range of agronomic types, in terms of morphological parameters regarding the production of seeds at the Bird's-foot trefoil and the yield of fresh fodder and dry matter. The research was conducted between 2020-2022 in the natural framework provided by the experimental field of ARDS Lovrin. The results of this study indicate that based on the functional relationships between morphological parameters, the 16 forms of Bird's-foot trefoil studied are divided into three large groups. For the production of the seeds, the forms of the Lv10, and Lv 15 Bird's-foot trefoil proved valuable, which showed a large number of generative shoots. In this regard, these forms of Bird's-foot trefoil can be tested alongside the Lv13 and LV8 genotypes. The highest yield was registered in the genotype Lv1 Bird's-foot trefoil, which achieved a fresh fodder yield of 19 t.ha-1 and a production of 4.39 t.ha-1 dry matter, highly above the average of the experiment. Value for selection shows six more genotypes of Bird's-foot trefoil that exceed the average of the experiment. This research is a basis for improving and selecting valuable, stable genotypes for future cultivation.