ABSTRACT
Creation of highly productive, genetically valuable forms with high competitiveness in ecosystems of mountain hayfields and pastures is an important element of fodder base formation in the North Caucasian region. Existing in the region, clover cultivars of hayfield-pasture type have low productive longevity, and this fact creates substantial hardships for the formation of agrocenoses in mountain and foothill conditions. The main obstacle in the way of growth of the biological potential of this species is the low adaptive capacity of recommended cultivars in conditions of vertical zoning. The specifics of environmental conditions in mountain regions with billowy relief, where more than half of all agricultural lands are situated in complex topographic conditions characterized by changes of soil-climatic gradients and demands the use of stresstolerant cultivars. Highly productive cultivars and hybrids are usually less tolerant to such conditions, less effective in conditions of undersow due to low competitiveness with native species, and they have low survival rate of sprouts. Individuals, which have survived, do not live for long and soon fall out the grass. In practice, this leads to unjustified costs of labor and funds [1]. Evaluation and use of genetic potential of local wild populations of red clover has a special importance due to their specific stress tolerance.
