The Department put, alongside the breeding program, a lot of effort into organization of seed production. Seed production was expanded to all regions of the former state (Vojvodina, Macedonia, Istra) and at moderately large areas of Bulgaria and Hungary. A number of our varieties (Osječka 66, Zdravka, Slavonka, Vuka, and Drava) were spread over considerable producing areas. Currently, the most sown varieties for seed production are Osječka 66 and Osječanka 88.

Beside alfalfa breeding, Department is dealing with issues of management practices, i.e. with problems coupled with sowing, fertilization, pest, and disease control, use and seed production. Alfalfa breeding provided a frame on which a couple of doctor and master theses were defended and numerous original scientific and professional papers as well as book of alfalfa were written. A number of papers are indexed in referral databases (CC, CAB, Agris, and Agricola).

Over the years of working scientists of Department were awarded for their scientific and professional activities in forage crops improvement. Knowledge and experience of Department’s scientists are transferred to producers by media, lectures, direct contacts, and publishing. In addition, the results of research activities are presented at domestic and foreign meetings. In 1978, the Department was host to the International EUCARPIA Meeting group Medicago spp.

During the years of work Department notably collaborated with numbers of Institutes that work on similar issues worldwide (Hungary, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Russia, Moldavia, Ukraine, Italy, and etc.). We still exchange breeding material, literature, and people. The Department is involved in international integrated research project proposal named as "Lucerne gene pools creation and uses to benefit human environments and to improve sustainable agriculture". The proposal is submitted to EU Commission and project would start in 2004. Ministry of science and technology of the Republic of Croatia finances the alfalfa-breeding project named as "Breeding and genetics of alfalfa quantitative traits". A grant for direct and indirect costs of project activities is insufficient and minimal, particularly today, when expensive lab analyses like analyses of plant chemical composition, plant digestibility or molecular analyses are unavoidable.

The most of the costs for research activities of Department are covered through own seed production and selling.

For the last ten years Department has begun red clover breeding program. The breeding methods and procedures used in red clover breeding are the same as methods elucidated for alfalfa breeding. As the producers showed a significant decline in the interest devoted to red clover, the size of program is smaller. Red clover breeding research resulted in the release of Diana variety.

A recently released breeding program at Department is the breeding of grain legumes, i.e. breeding of winter forage peas for voluminous mass and breeding of spring forage peas for a) grain and b) voluminous mass. The goals of winter forage pea breeding are to develop a new variety with fast growth and development, with more than 160 cm height, with more than 50t/ha of green mass or more than 10 t/ha of dry matter and with high percentage of proteins in plant. Osječki zeleni winter forage peas variety has been realised in 2002. The trends in production over the last years indicate an increasing in needs for pea seed due to enhanced milk production and all pea seed produced in 2003 (over 50 t) were sold in short period. It is planed to increase pea seed production to 150 to 200 t in next two years.

The breeding goals of spring forage peas for grain are to create the afila leaf or medium afila leaf type of plant with 60-80 cm height, with increased number of stages, pods, and grains in pods and with high protein content in grain.

Program has started in early nineties by collecting and subsequent testing of materials under our climatic condition. After years of testing and by using different breeding methods, we have selected the best materials and multiplied seed for plant variety registration. Currently, one material is under state testing. Two years of testing were done and after this season, we expect that material will be recognised as a new variety. Therefore, we started with multiplying of foundation seed. All the costs of red clover and peas breeding programs are covered by incomes of the Institute.

At the end we wish to mention the scientists whose contribution to the development of forage crops breeding at the Agricultural Institute Osijek were substantial. The very first, deceased prof. D.Sc. Dragoljub Bošnjak was the author of chicory varieties and co-author of the most of the alfalfa varieties. He was also long time professor of "Forage crops production" subject at the Faculty of Agriculture Osijek. D.Sc. Ivan Sikora worked at Department for a shot time but gave a valuable contribution to alfalfa breeding at the beginning of the program. Today he is retired expert of FAO. prof. D.Sc. Mirko Stjepanović was the long time head of Department as well as principal investigator of alfalfa and grain legumes breeding programmes. He was co-author of most recognised varieties and today still works as a professor of "Forage crops" subject at the Faculty of Agriculture Osijek.

Present employers of Department are: D.Sc. Svetislav Popović, head of Department and principal investigator of alfalfa and grain legumes breeding programs, co-author of the most of the recognised varieties, D.Sc. Sonja Grljušić, M.Sc. Tihomir Čupić and M.Sc. Marijana Tucak, young researches engaged in the forage crops breeding and co-authors of recently created selection materials of alfalfa and peas.

OS FORAGE CROPS SELECTION

More important references:

Sikora, I.(1974): Procjena fenotipskih i genetskih parametara u Panonskoj lucerni i njihovo korištenje u procesu oplemenjivanja. Disertacija, Zbornik radova Poljoprivrednog instituta Osijek, sv. 2, 1-91.

Bošnjak, D., Stjepanović, M.(1978): Utvrđivanje novih domaćih i stranih sorti u nekoliko stadija razvoja. Zbornik radova, EUCARPIA Grupa Medicago spp.,Osijek, Sveučilišna naklada Liber, Zagreb, 1-3.

Stjepanović, M., Popović, S.(1992): Utjecaj genetske varijabilnosti lucerne na prinos suhe tvari i proteina. Znan. i praksa u polj. i preh. tehnologiji vol.22 (2), 299-306.

Popović, S.,Stjepanović, M.(1995): Vilina kosica (Cuscuta spp.) ograničavajući čimbenik proizvodnje sjemena lucerne. Sjemenarstvo vol. 12 (2-3), 135-149.

Stjepanović, M.(1998.): Lucerna. Knjiga. Nova zemlja, Osijek, 1-145.

Popović, S.(1998): Fungicidi kao čimbenik prinosa sjemena lucerne. Disertacija. Sveučilište Josipa Jurja Strossmayera u Osijeku, Poljoprivredni fakultet u Osijek, 1-92.

Stjepanović, M., Popović, S., Grljušić, S., Čupić, T., Bukvić,G., Tucak, M.(1999): Genetska varijabilnost kultivara lucerne dobivena višegodišnjim izborom. Poljoprivreda, vol.5, 2, 37-45.

Grljušić, S., Bolarić, S., Popović, S., Kozumplik, V.(2001): Effects of growing conditions on red clover traits variability. XVI EUCARPIA Congress, Edinburgh, U.K.2.

Popović, S., Stjepanović, M., Grljušić, S., Čupić, T., Tucak, M.(1999): Influence of alfalfa seed size on quality properties. XIII EUCARPIA Medicago spp. Group, Perugia, Italy, 17-18.

 Popović, S., Stjepanović, M., Grljušić, S., Čupić, T., Tucak, M.(2001): Protein and fiber contents in alfalfa leaves and stemps. Quality in lucerne and medics for animal production. XIV Eucarpia Medicago spp. Group Meeting, Zaragoza, Spain, 215-218.

Popović, S., Stjepanović, M., Grljušić, S., Čupić, T., Tucak, M., Bukvić, G.(2002): Prinos i kakvoća zrna jarog stočnog graška. Krmiva 44, Zagreb, 4, 191-197.