Pen Academic Publishing, cilt.2, sa.2, ss.166-176, 2021 (Hakemli Dergi)
This study has been carried out in order to determine the variations in the vegetative characteristics of the
mixtures of legume and cereal crops. Experiments were conducted according to the randomized complete block
design using three replications of flowerpots. In the experiment; 1, 2 and 4 annual grass, Hungarian vetch and
hairy vetch along with their double mixtures have been taken from per flowerpot. Effects of lean and mixed
cultivation on plant characteristics (plant height, number of branches, total wet and dry weight and total root
weight) and nutritional characteristics (NDF, ADF, ADL, crude protein, crude ash, digestibility of dry and
organic matter, and total fiber) of crops were examined in this study. According to the results of our research
work, as the number of plants per flowerpot increased the total wet and dry weight and root mass increased,
too, in terms of plant characteristics particularly, in mixed sowing, the amount of upper soil surface and
underground organic mass increased. Ratios of NDF, ADF and fiber in the mixture of cereals with legumes have
decreased, while the digestibility of crude protein, crude ash, dry and organic matter has increased in case of
nutritional characteristics. On the other hand, the ratios of NDF and ADF have increased, while there was a
decrease in crude protein and crude ash ratios in the mixture of legumes with cereals. This indicates that annual
grass along with hairy vetch and Hungarian vetch can be cultivated in winter both for obtaining higher grass
production as well as to provide more organic matter to soil. It is concluded that the most suitable mixing ratios
to be the two-fold and four-fold ratios of perennial grass along with the single ratio of vetches.