Effect of Cultivars, Row Spacing and Seeding Rates on Yield and Yield Components of Alfalfa (Medicagosativa)
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: The study was undertaken at Adami Tulu Agricultural Research center (ATARC) with the objectives to evaluate the effect of cultivars, seeding rates and row spacing on yield and yield components of alfalfa. Six alfalfa cultivars (Magna-801, Hunter-river (Check), FG-10-09, Magna-788, FG-09-09 and Alfalfa-Italy), three row spacing (20 cm, 35 cm and 50 cm) and three seeding rates (10, 15 and 20 kg ha1-) were arranged in split-split plot design with three replications. The results indicated that different cultivars influenced significantly the DM yield (P<0.01), leaf to stem ratio (P<0.01) and seed yield (P<0.001) parameters. Comparable DM yield were obtained from FG-10-09, Magna-788, FG-09-09 and Hunter river -(Check) cultivars with values of 1.22, 1.18, 1.09 and 1.08 t/ha respectively. Cultivar FG-09-09 was produced the highest seed yield (21.9 kg ha-1) and it performed well in all other tested parameters. Significantly the highest seed (16.9 kg ha-1) followed by (15.5 kg/ha) were recorded respectively from row spacing of 50 and 35cm. Hence, by considering all agronomic and yield performances, FG-09-09 was selected as best performing cultivar in the study area. Although the highest forage DM yield was produced by the highest seeding rate (20 kg ha-1), since there are no significant differences between seeding rate of 15 kg ha-1 and seeding rate of 20 kg ha-1, it is logical to recommend the intermediate seeding rate (15 kg ha-1) with row spacing of 35cm to be the optimal for alfalfa forage production. Thus, it can be concluded that alfalfa cultivar FG-09-09 with intermediate seeding rate of 15 kg ha-1under row spacing of 35 cm proved to be superior with respect to dry matter yield. However, if the target is for seed production, row spacing of 35cm wide with the lowest (10 kg ha-1) seeding rate should be used under Adami Tulu ecological conditions.
Source: Advances in Applied Sciences
Institution: Oromia Agricultural Research Institute
Language: English
Subfield: Agronomy and Crop Science
Domain: Life Sciences
SDG: Zero hunger
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W4412917841