Determination of Some Characteristics of Sainfoin (Onobrychis sativa) Landraces Grown in Van Province

Sainfoin landraces collected from different counties of Van province in East Anatolia were grown in an augmented trial design in 2009-2011. Some morphological traits together with herbage and protein yields per plant were recorded. There were highly significant differences between landraces. Minimum and maximum values were 94-297 g/plant for herbage yield, 29.5-79.5 g/plant for dry matter yield, 13,60-19,34% for leaf ratio, 8,7-28,8 for number of stems per plant, 6,0-9,1 mm for main stem width. Crude protein contents and yields of leaves and stems were in the range of 16.28-21.88% and 8.34-12.06%, respectively. Among the sainfoin landraces, the differences for leaf ratio were not significant, but the differences for herbage yield, dry matter yield, number of stems per plant, main stem width, and crude protein contents were significant.