DOI: n/a
Abstract
An evaluation of five elite alfalfa clones for productivity and quality was carried out with regard to the selection. The highest productive potential was found in clone № 30. It succeeded in forming fresh vegetative mass of 1,380 g/plant within one growing season. It was distinguished by the highest height (an average of 60.2 cm) of the plants before harvesting and a fast recovery after cutting (score 9).
The dry and organic matter digestibility of the feed of the surveyed clones was high – over 70%. The clone with the highest average performance was № 27 (72.22%), followed by clones № № 30, 31 and 28. The examined quality indicators differed in variation degree at a clone level. It was found that the strongest genotype ↔ environment interaction was observed in clone № 31, taking into account the highest degree of variability. CV values were over 20%, respectively for Hemicellulose – 53.6%, for ADL – 26.6%, for NDF – 21.6% and for ADF – 20.2%. The rest of the clones showed a weaker interaction, clone № 30 being relatively the most stable for most of the indicators.
In all clones, a slight variation in the dry and organic matter digestibility values of CV from 1.6% (№ 30) to 7.4% (№ 31) was observed. The CV average values in descending order were as follows: Hemicellulose – 33.6%, ADL – 11.3%, Lignif.(coeff.) – 10.3%, NDF – 9.9%, ADF – 9.1%, Cellulose – 8.8% CP – 7.4%, IVDMD – 3.9%.