Persian clover (annual) LIGHTNING (coated seeds)

• It is one of the most productive annual legume plants
• Produces high protein fodder
• In good conditions, the annual possible yield of dry matter – up to 15.7 t/ha
• Early and abundant first yield
• Regenerates well after cutting or grazing
• Multiple harvests are possible with sufficient moisture
• Easy to establish, even when sowing late
• Growth habit – semi-erect
• The plant is almost erect, bush-shaped
• Plant height – about 50-70 cm
• Stems – thick, hollow, thin-walled, soft, very susceptible to lodging
• Stems become woody very slowly
• Leaves – large
• Flowering intensity – medium
• Flowering – medium late/late
• The flowers are pink and have a specific odor
• Maturity – medium late/late (about 145 days to flowering)
• The root system is rather shallow and branched
• Tolerates flooding
• Tolerant to anthracnose (Kabatiella caulivora) (Clover scorch)
• Susceptible to leaf rust Uromyces trifolii-repentis
• Soft seeds (hard seeds consist only 1-2 %)
• 1000 seed weight – 1.25-1.70 g
• Seed yield – 150-300 kg/ha (potential – 1000 kg/ha)
• Used for fodder production – hay, silage, grazing
• Nutritious and highly digestible
• Crude protein content – 16-24 %
• Fiber content – low
• NDF content – 24-45 %
• Suitable for annual fodder mixes
• Especially suitable for pasture mixtures with ryegrass or oats
• Suitable for growing as a crop rotation plant, for a 1-year break in crop rotation
• Fixes nitrogen, improves the soil
• Strong root system and easily decomposable aerial part contribute to soil protection and erosion control, making it an excellent choice for green manure
• When sowed as a cover/catch crop, recommendation to sow denser; in such way stronger fight against weeds, produces a higher yield of green mass  
• Can produce 3.0-3.5 t/ha of dry matter when grown as a cover/catch crop
• Reduces the number of weeds (by cutting the plants for forage before the growing together weeds have produced their seeds)
• Adapts to a wide range of soils, except sandy and acidic
• Best suited for growing in neutral or slightly alkaline soils (pHCaCl2 5.5-8.5)
• Tolerates clay soils
• The required amount of precipitation during vegetation is 450-500 mm

• First dry matter yield – 5 points (out of 9)
• Overall score – 5.8 points (out of 9)
• Quality – 4.3 points (out of 9)
• Initial growth/early development – 4.4 points (out of 9)
• Competitiveness – 6.1 points (out of 9)
• Persistence – 7.3 points (out of 9)
• Resistance to the pathogen (Cymadothea trifolii) – 3.8 points (out of 9)
• Amount of dry matter – 4.9 points (out of 9)
• Overall index – 5.22 points (out of 9)

*Rating scale: 1 – very high or good; 5 – average; 9 – Very low or poor
*Trifolium resupinatum: results of yield studies and evaluations in 2013-2015. Source: Suter D., Frick R., Hirschi H. Aebi Ph. Neue Sorten von Westerwoldischem Raigras und Perserklee empföllen. Pflanzenbau | Neue Sorten von Westerwoldischem Raigras und Perserklee empfohle. Agrarforschung Schweiz 7(2): 72–79, 2016.

• First yield of dry matter – 6 points (out of 9)
• Beginning of flowering – 5 points (out of 9)
• Plant height in the early growth stage – 5 points (out of 9)
• Regrowth – 5 points (out of 9)
• Development after sowing – 4 points (out of 9)
• Tendency to lodging – 4 points (out of 9)
• Raw protein content – 5 points (out of 9)

*Results of studies in Germany (rating scale: 1 – very early, low; 5 – medium; 9 – very late, high)

The advantages of coated seeds:

• Allows more precisely to incorporate small size seeds with low sowing rate
• Protect seed from mechanic stress caused by sowing machines
• Protect seed from birds and insects - in fact coating components are not toxic but they don’t even attract them
• The extra-resistance of the coating avoids dust leakage and dust accumulation in the sowing machine
• Have less hard-seed content which means higher immediate germination percentage on the establishment of crop

The varietal parameters may differ from those indicated here when the testing circumstances differ from quondam