Factors of increasing alfalfa yield capacity under conditions of the forest-steppe

Abstract

It was found that southern ecotype alfalfa (Medicago sativa) of variety 'Angelica' adapted to the soil and climatic conditions of the Forest-Steppe and was not inferior in yielding capacity to variety 'Rosana' which provided maximum indices in the phase of the beginning of budding at sowing rates of 6.0 million pcs ha–1 and ordinary row sowing method with row spacing 12.5 cm. It was discovered that with the increase of alfalfa sowing rate from 4.0 to 8.0 million ha–1 the dry matter content of varieties increased by 0.11–0.20% for sowing with row spacing of 25.0 cm. compared to row spacing of 12.5 cm. (22.62–22.83%). The average crude protein content in variety 'Rosana' was 20.68–21.37 and 'Angelica' 20.67–21.07%. Narrowing of row spacing contributed to an increase in crude protein content by 0.55–0.58%. The highest content NDF and ADF were observed in the second year of alfalfa grass life, respectively 30.72–34.91 and 23.02–24.60%. During the third year of alfalfa grass usage, the indices decreased to 27.09–33.03 and 19.53–24.18%, respectively. Thus, during three years of life at different geographical origins, alfalfa in the phase of budding provided a stable dry matter output of 27.45–27.81 and crude protein output of 5.86–5.87 t ha–1 for sowing with row spacing of 12.5 cm. and sowing rate of 6.0 million pcs ha–1.

Keywords

• alfalfa
• medicago sativa
• variety
• budding
• crude protein
• dry matter
• yielding capacity
• green mass