Effects of Sowing Season and Cultivation Methods on Seedling Emergence, Survivor Rate and Growth of Astragalus flexilepes L. in Rangelands of Kermanshah Province, Iran

One of the fundamental difficulties in Iranian rangelands is the existence of wide area of poor condition rangelands that their grazing capability is low due to continuous livestock grazing pressure. Astragalus flexilipes is one of the palatable plant species of rangelands in Iran, while its distribution is being decreased due to improper grazing. The aim of this study was to evaluation the sowing season and cultivation methods of Astragalus flexilipes in dryland farming using split plot design based on completely randomized block with three replications in Meleh-Kabud, Gahvareh, Kermanshah, Iran over two years of 2016-17. The first factor was sowing seasons (spring and autumn) and the second one was cultivation methods (row sowing and scatter sowing). Data were collected for seedling emergence, survivor rate and growth condition in the second year. Result showed significant effect of cultivation method on seedling emergence and survival rate and significant effect of sowing date on growth condition (P<0.01). The sowing date by cultivation method interaction was significant for seedling emergence and survival rate (p<0.05). The highest values of the latter traits were obtained in spring season coupled with row cultivation method. In autumn sowing the highest growth scores of 3.74 and 3.15 (out of 5) for row sowing and scatter sowing, respectively. It was concluded that the highest establishment was achieved in spring cultivation, but the vigorous plants was observed in the autumn cultivation. Thus, early spring cultivation of Astragalus flexilipes using row-sowing method was recommended for rehabilitation of the poor condition rangeland in similar climate area having relatively lower temperature.