Phenological and Morphological Characters Analysis of Vicia Narbonensis L. and Vicia Sativa L. in a Semi-Arid Context

Abstract

Our study focused on ten Vicia narbonensis L. ecotypes in comparison with two Vicia sativa L. ecotypes cultivated at the University of Sétif-1 experimental station. The aims work to study these twelve vetches behavior via phenological character (plant height) and some morphological stages (date: start of flowering, 50% of flowering and full flowering) monitoring, under the rainy conditions of the semi-arid region (East Algerian). The Two Vicia sativa L. ecotypes are used as controls because this species dominates forage crops in Algeria. The data collected are subjected to variance analysis based on comparison Fisher means (LSD) at the 5% threshold. The relationships between the different measured variables pairs are described and analyzed by calculating phenotypic correlations, based on genotypic means using the XLSTAT software (2014). The variance analysis indicates significant effects of ecotype, year and ecotype × year interaction (p<0.05), highlighting the great diversity in phenological evolution. Our results indicate that characteristics ecotype tested are strongly affected by interannual variations and the ecotypes are not stable for the parameters measured from one year to the next. According to three year average for Vicia narbonensis L., the earliest period at flowering start is recorded by ecotype N-2380 while the latest is recorded by ecotype N-2390. ANOVA indicated significant differences between ecotypes, years and their interaction for plant height. Finally, early ecotypes are preferred in semi-arid regions provided that spring frosts do not coincide with flowering. In other words, as they flower early, they can escape drought at end cycle and therefore give themselves more time to fill their pods.

Keywords

• Vicia narbonensis L.
• Vicia sativa L.
• Ecotypes
• Semi-arid

References

1. Djellal, F., Mahmah, S., Mouhous, A., Kadi, S.A. & Mebarkia, A. (2024). Phenological and morphological characters analysis of Vicia narbonensis L. and Vicia sativa L. in a semi-arid context. The Eurasia Proceedings of Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics (EPSTEM), 30, 64-71.