MOUSSAOUALI BAKIR*, KADI SI AMMAR, SLIMANI ALI AND HAMDI AÏSSA BAELHADJ
Université de Ouargla, Faculté des sciences de la nature et de la vie, Laboratoire de biogéochimie des milieux désertiques, Ouargla 30 000, Algérie
Department of Agronomic Sciences, Faculty of Biological Sciences and Agronomic Sciences, Analytical
Biochemistry and Biotechnologies Laboratory (LABAB), Mouloud Mammeri University UN1501, Tizi-Ouzou, Algeria
Laboratoire Santé Animale Productions Agricoles Environnement et Sécurité Alimentaire Département
Agronomie Université Chadli Bendjedid El-Tarf, Algerie
*(e-mail : moussaouali86.47@gmail.com and moussaouali.bakir@univ-ghardaia.dz)
(Received : 7 November 2022; Accepted : 15 June 2023)
SUMMARY
The present research was carried out to determine forage production and characterization of agronomic traits of three leguminous species of Hedysarum genus. They are cultivated for the first time in agro-ecological conditions of Saharan region in the oases of Ghardaïa (M’Zab region, Algeria). Hedysarum coronarium L., H. carnosum and H. flexuosum L. are chosen because they considered well adapted to marginal areas. Seeds of species were collected from different regions of Algeria. The trial was conducted in sandy soil with alkaline pH = 8.27 in autumn of 2020. Results indicate that Sulla coronaria showed the best results (p<5%) compared to the other species: S. carnosa and S. flexuosa for all traits, except leaf/stem ratio and SLA (S. carnosa takes the first place with 1.44 vs. 1.40 and 1.25, and 13.09 m2
/kg vs. 8.9 and 13.07 m2/kg, respectively). The results of the correlation matrix indicated that the plant height is positively correlated with the leaf number (p<0.000). The variance analysis revealed a significant variation between the species regarding the seven studied traits, except the leaf to stem ratio and dry biomass. The findings of this study encourage farmers to include this valuable culture in their production system.
Key words: Algeria – behavior – Forage production – Hedysarum genus – M’Zab oases – sandy soil