Overwintering Capacity Affected by Seeding Time and Method of Chinese Milk Vetch, Astragalus sinicus L., in Upland Field

Overwintering capacity, closely related to winter hardiness, of Chinese milk vetch planted with different sowing times and sowing practices was investigated to improve the incorporation into cropping system in Korea. The tolerance to low temperature was evaluated with LT50 using leaf disc leaching method. Dry weight of CMV was reduced remarkably with delayed planting from Sep. 5 to Oct. 20. The differences in tolerance to freezing temperature were not conspicuous among CMV genotypes, however, the differences between genotype (collections at different regions) were due to the plant architecture, mainly to the leaf angle. The crouching genotype collected at central region of Korean peninsula, which showed excellent freezing tolerant, has planophile leaves. The feature of internal constituents of CMV genotypes did not show any noticeable differences with respect to the freezing tolerance which evaluated by leaf disc leaching experiment. To overcome the poor overwintering capacity, tolerant genotype should be developed by selection with considering the plant architecture. The reduction of CMV growth during overwintering period was ameliorated with furrow-sowing under late-sown condition, therefore, when the CMV is inevitably sown late after recommended time, the seeds should be sown on furrow to overcome the cold stress.