Evaluation of the breeding system of two Vicia narbonensis L. accessions from East Mediterranean region

Vicia narbonensis is one of the annual leguminous species with the potential to become an important grain and straw crop for animal feeding. In this study, we evaluated the reproductive potentialities of two introduced accessions of V. narbonensis L. through two experiments: bagging and free pollination. The plants fertility was estimated by the number of flowers giving pods and the number of seeds by flowers. Statistical analysis showed that the two accessions were preferentially autogamous (mean pods/flowers ratio = 0.6). Significant differences were observed for the number of flowers and pods per plant and the number of seeds per pod. Significant correlations were obtained between the fertility rate and the pods number by plant. Accession VN1 had a lower fertility rate than VN9 (0.47 vs 0.71) under strictly self-fertilization conditions due to the low viability of its pollen. Results allowed a better characterization of the two Narbon vetch accessions, which may contribute to the conservation of its genetic resources considering its drought tolerance and its potential as a feed legume crop in dry areas. This preliminary study should be developed to estimate the total plant production toward a better integration of these results into projects aiming at provisioning feed supplies for the rapidly growing livestock population in the Mediterranean region.