Gathering,planting and evaluation of three species of cool climate grow grasses for improvement of hamedan province rang land.

The plant family Graminae comprises 450 genera and 6000 species which are grown all over the world. In this study the yield and other growth factors of three species from the sub-family Festocoidae, including: Agropyron cristatum, Bromus tomentellus and Festuca ovina were evaluated. The plants within this sub-family are important regarding to forage production. For each species under test, 12 accessions were planted and evaluated. Evaluation of the species was carried out in the form of dry farming in Ekbatan research station (Agricultural research centre of Hamedan, Iran) with the following geographical coordinates: longitude 48 latitude 52 34 and the elevation of 1730m of the sea level. The plants to be evaluated were sown in the frame of a randomized complete blocks design with three replications. Each plot consisted of 3 rows, 3m long. During the growth period, the weeds were mechanically and chemically controlled. The factors measured were: percentages of raw protein, carbohydrate, cell wall without hemi-cellulose and ash.The measurements were done using an infra red spectrophotometer ( Perten8620, ..). Moreover, the factors such as density, stem and ear emerging dates, stem number, plant height, percentage of stem versus leaf, plant vigor, plant crown diameter, the amount of seeds produced and forage yield were measured. The data were written in Excel environment. After normalizing the data, they were analyzed by using the SAS and MINITAB soft wares. Using the Duncan Multi-range test, the means were compared. The factors influencing the functions were determined by using the multivariable analysis. Analysis of the seed yield data of Agropyron cristatum in the first year, indicated that there were significant differences between the accessions (at 5% level). Using the Duncan test, the means of yields were compared and the accessions were grouped. The accessions 619-mix (with 301.1 kgh-1), 208-P2 (with 265.5 kgh-1) and 1727-210 (with 261 kgh-1) had the highest yields (group a). However, the accession 208-mix was sensitive to the Russian aphid as much as two times as the other accession were. All accessions of this species had the same rate of resistance to freezing. Analysis of the forage yield data of this species revealed significant differences between the accessions (at 1% level). The accessions 1727-212 (with 3000 kgh-1) and 619-mix (with 2889 kgh-1) had the highes yield (group a) Study of the relationship between the plant traits for this species revealed the following points: The most effective factors on the seed yield were: protein, ash and plant density, respectively. The most effective factors on the forage yields were: plant vigor, stem number, stem diameter and the ratio of stem to leaf, respectively. The most effective factor on the stem to leaf ratio was stem diameter. The most effective factors on the amount of protein were: stem number, plant height, ash, cell wall, digestion capability and plant vigor, respectively. Analysis of the seed yield data of Bromus tomentellus in the second year, indicated that there were significant differences between the accessions (at 5% level). Using the Duncan test, it was shown that the accession Sirachal with 137.7 kgh-1, had the highes yield (group b). Study of the relationship between the plant traits for this species revealed the following points: The most effective factors on the forage yield were: stem number, plant height, carbohydrate and plant density, respectively. The most effective factors on the stem to leaf ratio were plant density, ash and plant vigor. The most effective factors on the amount of protein were: carbohydrate, digestion capability and the ratio of stem to leaf. Analysis of the forage yield data of Festuca ovina in the second year, revealed significant differences between the accessions (at 5 % level). The accessions 10477- mix (with 3422 kgh-1) and 1779-mix (with 3233 kgh-1) had the highest yield (group a) and the accession 599(with 322 kgh-1) had the lowest yield (group c). Study of the relationship between the plant traits for this species revealed the following points: The most effective factors on the seed yield were: protein, ash and plant density, respectively. The most effective factors on the forage yields were: plant vigor, stem number, stem diameter and the ratio of stem to leaf, respectively. The most effective factor on the stem to leaf ratio was stem diameter. The most effective factors on the amount of protein were: stem number, plant height, ash, cell wall, digestion capability and plant vigor, respectively.