Performance of four blue melilot (Melilotus caeruleus (L.) Desr.) lines grown at two locations in the Thrace region of Turkey

Abstract

The aim of this research was to determine the performance of forage yield and quality in four blue melilot (Melilotus caeruleus (L.) Desr.) lines grown in the Thrace region of Turkey. Four blue melilot lines (BG-1, BG-2, BG-3 and BG-4) and one population as control were used in the experiment. The lines were evaluated with mass selection in the Department of Field Crops, Faculty of Agriculture, Namik Kemal University, Turkey. Blue melilot population seeds were collected at mature stage from grasslands (43.0 degrees N, 26.0 degrees E) of the Belovets village in Razgrad, the north-east of Bulgaria. Some forage quality traits, yield and their components of candidate variety BG-3 was determined to be higher than other lines. Besides, genetic improvement using phenotypic selection there will also be required selection under multiple locations.