Fenugreek May Have Potential for Multipurpose Use.

Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum L.) is a specialty crop of the Fabaceae family and used both as herb and spice. Fenugreek can decrease cholesterol levels and is considered as a good breastmilk stimulator. Fenugreek has potential to be used as animal feed. The objective of this study is to evaluate most promising genotypes/accessions of fenugreek under varying environments for the phenotypic adaptability and stability for growth, seed yield, and quality. Thirteen genotypes/accessions were sown with four replicates during the spring of 2010, 2011, and 2012 at two locations of the University of Wyoming: Lingle (irrigated and dryland) and Laramie (irrigated). The seeding rate was 27 kg ha^-1. The plots were divided into two groups: forage production and seed production. Forage was mechanically harvested in mid-August to early September and seeds were harvested in early to mid-October of 2010, 2011, and 2012. At Lingle, line F80 produced the highest dry matter (DM) yield (2,380 kg ha^-1) while line IT produced the lowest DM (1,060 kg ha^-1) under irrigation in 2010. Line IT produced the highest DM (825 kg ha^-1) in dryland in 2010. In 2011, DM increased 3-7 folds under irrigated (range 5,830-10,700 kg ha^-1) and 2-7 folds under dryland (range 1,385-2,340 kg ha^-1) conditions, compared to DM of 2010. The highest yield was 10,700 kg ha^-1 (line F70) under irrigated and 2,340 kg ha^-1 (line L3068) under dryland conditions. In Laramie under irrigation, the highest yield was 1,550 kg ha^-1 from line F96 in 2010 and 3,000 kg ha^-1 from line LRC3708 in 2011. Large variations were also observed for seed yield under irrigated (range 820-2,250 kg ha^-1 in 2010; 545-1,990 kg ha^-1 in 2011) and dryland (range 62-390 kg ha^-1 in 2010; 64-530 kg ha^-1 in 2011) conditions at Lingle and under irrigation at Laramie (range 25-580 kg ha^-1 in 2010). The highest seed yield (2,250 kg ha^-1) was obtained from line F96 under irrigation at Lingle in 2010. Forage quality was in the acceptable range at both locations (e.g., 140-200 g kg^-1 crude protein). Similar results were also obtained in 2012. It appears that line F96 is one of the best performers. Selection of well-adapted high performing fenugreek genotypes/accessions will result in development of superior cultivars.