R. Sturzu*, A. M. Ene, Cr. Melucă, J. M. Cojocaru

Agricultural Research and Development Station Teleorman, Drăgănești Vlașca, 147135 Teleorman, Romania (Manuscript received 11 October 2016; accepted for publication 19 January 2017)

Abstract. The purpose of the paper was to identify new peas genotypes, created in Agricultural Research and Development Station, Teleorman, South Romania, with improved productivity and adaptability to the environmental conditions of that region. The study was carried out with 25 field pea varieties for a period of three years (2013-2015). The experiment was conducted in randomized complete blocks design in three replications. The results of variance analysis showed that there was significant difference among pea genotypes by grain yield. The average yield over three years showed that lines M 1357, M 1410, M 1418 and M 720 achieved higher yield levels compared with the control genotype Vedea and with the average yield of all tested genotypes. Yields stability was estimated by coefficient of variability. Correlation analysis showed that the strongest relations there are between productivity elements: number of pods and seeds per plant (r = 0.905), number of pods and seeds weight per plant (r = 0.655), number of seeds per plant and seeds weight (r = 0.815), plant height and first pod insertion height (r = 0.921). There are significant negative correlations between 1000 seeds weight and number of grains per plant (r = – 0.229), number of pods per plant and 1000 seeds weight (r = -0.346), the first pod insertion height and number of pods per plant (r = -0.530), and the number of grains per plant (r = -0.412). The results obtained in this study suggest that, the new field pea genotypes are suitable for spreading and cultivating in Southern Romania.