SPRING VETCH

Spring vetch is a valuable leguminous forage plant. It is mainly cultivated for seed and green forage as main crop, but also for forage as stubble after crop. Similarly to other legumes, the roots of spring vetch enter into symbiosis with papillary bacteria of the Rhizobium species, fixing atmospheric nitrogen in the soil. Further nitrogen fertilization is unnecessary, unless the vetch is sewn in a mixture with cereals – 40-60kg of N/ha is recommended in this case. The vetch plants have an intermediate type of root system, i.e. a cross between a tap root and a fibrous one; the stems are slender, the leaves are paripinnate, ending with a tendril. Vetch requires medium to fertile soils: good wheat complexes or very good rye ones.