Genetic variations of agronomic traits in Chinese milk vetch cultivars

Twelve agronomic traits of nine widely used Chinese milk vetch cultivars were tested to evaluate genetic variations of these cultivars. The results showed that there was a wide range of diversity in agronomic characters of Chinese milk vetch oultivars. The variation of number of branche within population was the maximum, with the CV (coefficient of variation) of 0.310, and the agronomic traits of cultivars with the same maturity were similar. Earlymaturing cultivars Yuefei No.2 and Xinyang were poor in nutrition value and vegetative growth traits. Midmaturing cultivars Minzi No.1 and Minzi No.7 were superior to other cultivars in leaf characters, plant height, stem diameter, and dry matter. The dendrogram based on Euclidean distances among cultivars reflected the relationship betureen maturity of Chinese milk vetch cultivars. Close relationships were found between cultivars with the same maturity.