Formation of grass stands of variegated alfalfa (Medicago varia, M. media) on acidic sod-podzolic soils

Abstract

The article reports the results of field studies performed at the Field Experimental Station of Russian State Agrarian University – Moscow Timiryazev Agricultural Academy in 2023-2024. The authors studied the effect of the growth regulator Albit, the microbiological fertilizer Sporion and the micronutrient Aquamix on the formation of grass stands of variegated alfalfa (the Agnia and Taisia varieties) and Hungarian sainfoin (the Pavlovsky variety). The study has found that on the acidic sod-podzolic soil with a pHКCl of 4.52, variegated alfalfa (the Agnia and Taisia varieties) inoculated with strains of nodule bacteria Sinorhizobium meliloti, AK 55 and SHM 404B, respectively, formed dense grass stands. On average, over two years, variegated alfalfa of the Agnia variety provided the highest yield when using Sporion in combination with Aquamix – 5.2 t/ha; that of the Taisia variety – in variants of Albit + Aquamix and Sporion + Aquamix– 5.07 and 5.19 t/ha, respectively, which is 20.1%; 18.4, and 21.3% more compared to the control. Hungarian sainfoin has not formed a productive agrophytocenosis on the acidic soil. On average, it was inferior in yield to variegated alfalfa of the Agnia and Taisia varieties by 1.7 and 1.8 times, respectively, in all variants of the experiment.