Comparative Study On The Production Performance And Quality Of Different Alfalfa Varieties

Alfalfa（Medicago sativa L.）,referred to as alfalfa,is an excellent leguminous forage that plays an important role in animal husbandry production and grassland ecological construction.Because of its high yield,high quality,high palatability,wide adaptability and strong stress resistance,it has become the king of forage grass.In this research topic,aiming at establishing high-yield and high-quality artificial grassland in the Mu Us area,18 excellent alfalfa varieties were introduced from other places,and the introduction experiment was carried out with the local variety Junger alfalfa as a control.After 3 years of introduction experiments,five excellent alfalfa varieties suitable for local planting were screened.The following main research results are obtained by testing and comprehensive analysis of each indicator:1.The overwintering rates of the 19 alfalfa cultivars were all higher than 90%.In 2015,the grass yield of 18 introduced varieties grown at 70 days of age was higher than that of the control variety Junger alfalfa（CK）.In the introduction experiments in 2016 and 2017,there was no significant difference in yield among the top 8 varieties such as Zhongmu 3,Zhongmu 2,WL354HQ,WL168HQ,Grassland 3,55V09,reindeer and Shanbei alfalfa（P>0.05）,the yield was more than 60%higher than that of the control variety Junger alfalfa.Among them,the varieties with larger yield growth included Zhongmu 3,WL354HQ,55V09,reindeer,and Shanbei alfalfa.Eight varieties with crude protein content higher than 18%were Shaanbei Alfalfa,Reindeer,Grassland No.3,Zhongcao No.3,55V09,Grassland No.2,54V09 and Zhongmu No.3.There are four varieties with acid detergent fiber（ADF）≤30%:reindeer,Zhongmu No.3,55V09 and 54V09.There are four varieties with neutral detergent fiber（NDF）≤40%:reindeer,Zhongmu No.3,55V09 and 54V09.There were no significant differences between relative feeding values.2.The results of production test showed that the five alfalfa varieties were zhongmu No.3>Reindeer>Knight 3010>Golden Queen>Shanbei alfalfa in the comparative test of grass yield.The plant height（Z₁）,lateral branch number（Z₃）,root neck diameter（Z₅）and main stem internode number（Z₂）were significantly correlated with each other.The seed yield comparative experiment showed that the potential seed yield was in the following order:Zhongmu No.3>Knight 3010>Reindeer>Golden Queen>Northern Shaanxi alfalfa.Among the components of seed yield,the seed yield per plant（Y）was significantly positively correlated with the number of florette per inflorescence（X₃）and the number of seed per pod（X₄）（P<0.05）and extremely significantly positively correlated（P<0.01）.The linear regression equation of the components of seed yield of various varieties is:Y=-66.104-0.054X₁+0.156X₂+1.813X₃+7.733X₄+0.202X₅.Among the seed yield components,the number of seeds per pod（X₄）and the number of florets per inflorescence（X₃）had the greatest direct contribution to the seed yield per plant（Y）.And the number of seeds per pod（X₄）indirectly contributes to the seed yield per plant through the number of florets per inflorescence（X₃）,while the number of reproductive branches per plant（X₁）has the smallest direct contribution to the seed yield per plant（Y）,which is negative.value.The leaf protein content of the five cultivars was between 17%and30%,the in vitro digestibility of dry matter was higher than 58%,the digestibility of crude protein was higher than 74%,and the digestibility of neutral detergent fiber and acid detergent fiber were both higher than 20%.The comprehensive evaluation of Zhongmu 3and Reindeer was the best.