Effects of seed rate, planting date and planting method on morphological traits and forage yield of persian clover

In order to study effects of planting date and seed rate on forage yield and morphological traits of persian clover, a field experiment was conducted to compare there factors in traditional and mechanized farming systems in 2002- 2003 cropping seasons. The experiment was carried out using split split plot in a compelet randomized block design (CRBD) with 27 treatment and three replications in SPII field experiment station, Karaj, Iran. Three planting methods (a1, a2 and a3), three planting dates (b1, b2 and b3) and three seed rates (c1, c2 and c3) were assigned as main plots, sub plots and sub sub plots. The results indicated that the biological yield and morphological traits were significantly different over years, and different cuts. The traditional farming system with 13.42 t/ha, 5 september planting date with 12.02 t/h and 15 kg/ha seed rate with 10.11 t/ha had the highest biological yield. The interaction of the traditional farming system 5 Sep. Planting date 10 kg/ha seed rate with 16.68 t/ha of biological yield was the best combination. The combined analysis of variance showed that there was a significant effect of year on biological yield. It can be concluded that the traditional farming system, 5 Sep. and 10-15 Kg/ha seed rate is recommended for forage production