Selection of red clover for fodder quality

Abstract

The article presents the results of studies of clover breeding for fodder quality in the conditions of North Ossetia-Alania. Based on the assessment of the initial breeding material, it was revealed that the quality of the chemical composition of the green mass of clover undergoes variability depending on climatic conditions, the protein content of the test samples varies from the phase of development, year of life, place of growth and genotype of the variety. With the rise of the mountain height, the crude protein increases, positive correlations have been established between the protein content and the traits: pubescence of the stems, foliage, intensity of the leaf pattern, leaf color, the correlated traits depend on the varietal characteristics and range from weak to close positive, the amount of essential amino acids varies from habitats, the content of extragenic isoflavones in wild forms is lower than in the cultivated variety, selection for a low content of isoflavones does not reduce yields. In order to select samples with a low content of isoflavones, an evaluation of the breeding material was carried out. Their content in different samples and places of growth was taken into account, taking into account vertical zonality. Our studies have established that in the phase of full flowering, the amount of isoflavones in wild-growing forms depends on the place of growth. In mountainous areas, wild-growing forms contain isoflavones 0.09-0.25% lower than the cultivar Osetinsky. Therefore, the selection of wild-growing forms, taking into account vertical zonality, will provide a valuable source material for breeding with a low content of isoflavones.