Publication Date
1989
Description
The self regenerating annual pasture legumes are used in rotation with cereals in the so called ley farming-system launched by the Ministry of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform for improving the production of some 1,375,000 hectares of fallow lands in Morocco (Tazi et al., 1987). There have been several attempts of introducing annual medics (Medicago sp.) in North Africa and West Asia but with little success, one of the reasons being the lack of adapted cultivars (Cocks, 1985 and Francis, 1987). In Morocco, native annual medics can play an important role in providing germplasm for selecting cultivars suitable for local environmental conditions. The domestication of indigenus species and the incorporation of their useful characters into pasture and forage crops has been fully documented (Francis, 1987). Since 1983, the Plant Materials Center (P.M.C.) at El Jadida has been conducting preliminary evaluation on some 300 annual medic ecotypes from Morocco and North Africa. On the basis of those observations, 58 accessions were selected for microplots evaluation at 4 locations where the ley farming system has been introduced in Morocco: El Jadida (450 mm rainfall), Safi (584 mm), Settat (476 mm) and Meknes (560 mm). The objectives of this experiment were: 1) to select adapted ecotypes to the 4 locations and 2) to promote the best ecotypes for more intensive evaluation in advanced yield trials in other regions of the country.
Citation
Tazi, M; Oulahboub, A; Lahsini, B; Laadnani, M; and Kouriri, R, "Evaluation of Local Annual Medic Ecotypes in Morocco" (2025). IGC Proceedings (1989-2023). 49.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/igc/1989/session3/49
Included in
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Evaluation of Local Annual Medic Ecotypes in Morocco
The self regenerating annual pasture legumes are used in rotation with cereals in the so called ley farming-system launched by the Ministry of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform for improving the production of some 1,375,000 hectares of fallow lands in Morocco (Tazi et al., 1987). There have been several attempts of introducing annual medics (Medicago sp.) in North Africa and West Asia but with little success, one of the reasons being the lack of adapted cultivars (Cocks, 1985 and Francis, 1987). In Morocco, native annual medics can play an important role in providing germplasm for selecting cultivars suitable for local environmental conditions. The domestication of indigenus species and the incorporation of their useful characters into pasture and forage crops has been fully documented (Francis, 1987). Since 1983, the Plant Materials Center (P.M.C.) at El Jadida has been conducting preliminary evaluation on some 300 annual medic ecotypes from Morocco and North Africa. On the basis of those observations, 58 accessions were selected for microplots evaluation at 4 locations where the ley farming system has been introduced in Morocco: El Jadida (450 mm rainfall), Safi (584 mm), Settat (476 mm) and Meknes (560 mm). The objectives of this experiment were: 1) to select adapted ecotypes to the 4 locations and 2) to promote the best ecotypes for more intensive evaluation in advanced yield trials in other regions of the country.
