Lucerne or Alfalfa Production technology

INTRODUCTION Scientific Name : Medicago sativa Common Name : ALFALFA or LUCERNE Belong to Leguminosae family. Originated from the Mediterranean region. It is called as the  'QUEEN OF FORAGE CROPS'.  It is a perennialflowering plant in the pea family Fabaceae cultivated as an important forage crop in many countries around the world. It is used for grazing, hay, and silage, as well as a green manure and cover crop. It is a frost tolerant crop susceptible to various pest and diseases and extreme drought tolerant crop. It is a rabi crop. Mostly used for animal feed. Nitrogen fixer , highly palatable perennial forage crop

HISTORY : Alfalfa seems to have originated in south-central Asia, and was first cultivated in ancient Iran. In ancient India, Ayurvedic texts prescribe the use of Alfalfa seeds and sprouts for improving blood cell production and it's leaves and stem as a good source of protein and minerals. Economic importance: Alfalfa, called the "Queen of the Forages," is the fourth most widely grown crop in the United States behind corn, wheat and soybeans and double the cotton acreage. Although there is no published value for alfalfa hay the estimated value is $8.1 billion all over the world. Alfalfa is also important due to its high biomass production. Its nitrogen-fixing abilities (which increase soil nitrogen) and its use as an animal feed greatly improve agricultural efficiency. WORLDWIDE PRODUCTION : Total production of the whole world last year was around 436 million tonns grown on an area of 30 million hectares. It is widely grown in the areas of  North America, Europe , Canada ,China , Italy, Russia, India and Pakistan also. It is a widely grown crop . 

BOTANICAL DESCRIPTION: Kingdom: Plantae Division: Angiosperms Order: Fabales Family:  Fabaceae Genus: Medicago Species: M. sativa

PLANT DESCRIPTION : Perrenial forage legume crop. 5-6 cm in height can even grow upto 1m depending on the area and climate. Leafy branches leaves are dull and trifoliate .Multibranched perrenial. Flowers are blue but can be yellow or purple. Very deep tap root system . This plant exhibits autotoxicity, which means it is difficult for alfalfa seed to grow in existing stands of alfalfa. Therefore, alfalfa fields are recommended to be rotated with other species (for example, corn or wheat) before reseeding. Its roots have some special quality that they can reach down in soil upto 4m and also more than 7-8 m in well drained soils. This is the reason this crop can face very harsh drought conditions by uptaking nutrients and water from soil.

SOIL AND CLIMATE REQUIREMENT: Alfalfa can be cultivated on all type of soils except water logged and saline ones. Deep loamy soils ,well drained soils with pH ranging from 6-7 are best for its cultivation ,acidic soils can also be used for its production. It is highly sensitive to climatic conditions. Semi dry climate is best for alfalfa as it can tolerate high temperatures of summer. The crop does best in the areas where annual rainfall is in between 30 – 40 inches. The crop can be cultivated upto the altitude of 9800 feet. It tolerates short spells of drought.

PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGY FOR SOWING , HARVESTING AND STORAGE OF ALFALFA: SOWING TIME : 1ST week of Oct to middle of november. However middle of oct is best for sowing. SEED RATE : Seed rate varies from place to place and germination percentage; mostly it used 8 – 12 Kg per acre for proper plant density.  20 –25 kg for broadcasting and 12-15 kg for line sowing. METHODS OF SOWING : 1)Broadcasting 2)Line sowing. LAND PREPARATION : eep ploughing with chisel or mould bold plough followed by clod crushing and 2–3 dry ploughings with disc harrow & cultivator are necessary. The deep ploughing is must because the alfalfa is deep rooted crop and it will be helpful for proper root development. 

Dormant (with reduced growth in winter). VARIETIES :  Two types are used : Dormant (with reduced growth in winter). Non-dormant (named as winter active). MOSTLY USED VARIETIES ARE : Type 8 and 9 Synthetic-78 No-18 Quandari   YIELD : 7 – 10 tons per acre dry matter can be obtained for good established alfalfa. In Pakistan total production is 3978061 t/hac. TOP PRODUCING AREAS OF PAKISTAN : In areas of Punjab and Balochistan.

HARVESTING AND STORAGE : When alfalfa is to be used as hay, it is usually cut and baled. In Pakistan it is cut when needed for forage with the help of sickle no proper method for harvestation . It can be stored in the form of hay ,silage or baleage. When used as feed for dairy cattle, alfalfa is often made into haylage by a process known as ensiling. It can be harvested by mowers etc.

USES OF ALFALFA : As a multipurpose fodder : As a high quality fodder. Palatable fodder. Lucerne meal is used for livestock and poultry. As an ornamental . Windbreak Fuelwood Biogas