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Adaptation Trial of Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) Varieties for Midland Agro-Ecology of Kellem Wollega Zone, Oromia, Ethiopia

Received: 29 December 2021    Accepted: 23 March 2022    Published: 31 March 2022
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Abstract

Alfalfa is important improved forage legume that solves feed shortages and has economic value for livestock production in Ethiopia. Six alfalfa varieties were evaluated to identify adaptable and high biomass yielder under rain fed condition of mid-altitude of Kellem Wollega Zone, Oromia, Ethiopia. The experiment was conducted in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. DAP fertilizer at the rate of 100 kg/ha was uniformly applied at sowing. Agronomic parameters and biomass yield were determined. Results revealed that the tested varieties were varied significantly (P<0.05) for days to emergence, plant coverage, days to 50% flowering (forage harvest), plant height, and biomass yield. Accordingly, variety Hunter river was early emerged (8.33 days) and had maximum (68.33%) percentage of plot coverage though DZF-552 (9.08 days) was late emerged and had minimum (56.33%) percentage of plot coverage. Variety DZF-552 was late flowering while F-L-L-77 was early flowering. Hairy Peruvian (70.92 cm) gave the maximum plant height though DZF-552 (55.08 cm) gave a minimum height. The highest mean fresh biomass (6.46 t/ha) and dry matter yield (1.28 t/ha) were recorded from Segules-1359 variety. On the other hand, the lowest fresh biomass (4.79 t/ha) and dry matter yield (0.97 t/ha) were recorded from variety DZF-552. Based on the results, it could be concluded that variety segules-1359, F-L-L-77, Hunter river, and Hairy Peruvian could be recommended to grow under the midland ecological condition of Kellem Wollega zone and similar agro ecology for livestock producers as feed resources.

Published in Computational Biology and Bioinformatics (Volume 10, Issue 1)
DOI 10.11648/j.cbb.20221001.13
Page(s) 14-19
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Alfalfa, Agronomic Parameter, Biomass Yield, Variety

References
[1] Alemayehu Mengistu, 2002. Forage production in Ethiopia: A case study with implications for livestock production. pp 1-111. Ethiop. Soc. of Anim. Prod. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
[2] Poppi D P and S R Mclennan, 1995. Protein and energy utilization y ruminants at pasture. Journal of animal science, 73: 278-290.
[3] Turan N, Celen AE, Özyazici MA, 2017. Yield and quality characteristics of some alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) Varieties grown inthe eastern turkey. Turkish Journal of Field Crops 22: 160-165.
[4] Borreani G. and Tabacco E., 2006. The effect of a baler chopping system of fermentation and losses of wrapped big bales of alfalfa. Agron. J., 98: 1-7.
[5] Stancheva I., Geneva M., Djonova E., Kaloyanova N., Sichanova M., Boychinova M. and Geogiev G., 2008. Respose of Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) growth at low accessible phosphorus source to the dual inoculation with mycorrhizal fungi and nitrogen fixing bacteria. Gen. and Appl. Plant Physi., 34 (3-4): 319-326.
[6] Haro Sabu ARC, 2012. Annual report of Haro Sabu Agricultural Research center, Haro Sabu.
[7] Statistical Analysis System (SAS), 2002. SAS/STAT guide for personal computers, version 9.0 editions. SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC, USA.
[8] Hidosa Denbela, 2015. Adaptation and evaluation of alfalfa (Medico sativa L.) accessions grown on station of Jinka Agricultural Research Center under rain fed condition. Inter J Agri Biosci, 4 (6): 240-243. www.ijagbio.com.
[9] Geleti, D., M. Hailemariam, A. Mengistu and A. Tolera, 2014. Biomass yield potential and nutritive value of selected alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) cultivars grown under tepid to cool sub-moist agro-ecology of Ethiopia. Journal of Agricultural Research and Development, 4 (1): 7-14.
[10] Gezahagn Kebede, Getnet Assefa, Fekede Feyissa, Alemayehu Mengistu, Tadese Tekletsadik, Muluneh Minta, Mamaru Tesfaye, 2017. Biomass Yield Potential and Herbage Quality of Alfalfa (Medicago Sativa L.) Genotypes in the Central Highland of Ethiopia. International Journal of Research Studies in Agricultural Sciences (IJRSAS) Vol. 3 (1): 14-26.
[11] Ullah F, A Alam, S Yamamoto, N Khan, T Honna., 2009. Screening for agronomic performance of six indigenous cultivars of alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) at Karina northern areas of Pakistan. EJEAFChe. 8: 950-968.
[12] Walie M, Eshetie T, Mekonnen W, Hunegnaw B and Kebede A., 2016. Dry Matter Yield, Chemical Composition and In Vitro Dry Matter Digestibility of Selected Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) Accessions in North Western, Ethiopia. J. Life Sci. Biomed., 6 (3): 60-65.
[13] Gashaw M, Mengistu A, Gelti D, 2015. Biomass yield dynamics and nutritional quality of alfalfa (Medicago sativa) cultivars at DebreZeit, Ethiopia. Journal of Agricultural Research and Development 5: 120-127.
[14] Solomo Wayu and Tesfay Atsbha, 2019. Evaluation of dry matter yield, yield components and nutritive value of selected alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) cultivars grown under Lowland Raya Valley, northern Ethiopia. Africa Journal of Agricultural Research, Vol. 14 (15): 705-711.
[15] Awad OA, Bakri E., 2009. Effect of water quality and weeding on yield and quality of three alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) cultivars. Australian Journal of Crop Science 3: 315-321.
[16] Afsharmanesh G., 2009. Study of some morphological traits and selection of drought resistant alfalfa cultivars (M. sativa L.) in Jiraft, Iran. Plant Ecology, 3: 109-118.
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    Yerosan Wekgari, Negasu Gamachu, Fikre Diriba. (2022). Adaptation Trial of Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) Varieties for Midland Agro-Ecology of Kellem Wollega Zone, Oromia, Ethiopia. Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, 10(1), 14-19. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.cbb.20221001.13

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    ACS Style

    Yerosan Wekgari; Negasu Gamachu; Fikre Diriba. Adaptation Trial of Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) Varieties for Midland Agro-Ecology of Kellem Wollega Zone, Oromia, Ethiopia. Comput. Biol. Bioinform. 2022, 10(1), 14-19. doi: 10.11648/j.cbb.20221001.13

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    AMA Style

    Yerosan Wekgari, Negasu Gamachu, Fikre Diriba. Adaptation Trial of Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) Varieties for Midland Agro-Ecology of Kellem Wollega Zone, Oromia, Ethiopia. Comput Biol Bioinform. 2022;10(1):14-19. doi: 10.11648/j.cbb.20221001.13

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  • @article{10.11648/j.cbb.20221001.13,
      author = {Yerosan Wekgari and Negasu Gamachu and Fikre Diriba},
      title = {Adaptation Trial of Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) Varieties for Midland Agro-Ecology of Kellem Wollega Zone, Oromia, Ethiopia},
      journal = {Computational Biology and Bioinformatics},
      volume = {10},
      number = {1},
      pages = {14-19},
      doi = {10.11648/j.cbb.20221001.13},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.cbb.20221001.13},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.cbb.20221001.13},
      abstract = {Alfalfa is important improved forage legume that solves feed shortages and has economic value for livestock production in Ethiopia. Six alfalfa varieties were evaluated to identify adaptable and high biomass yielder under rain fed condition of mid-altitude of Kellem Wollega Zone, Oromia, Ethiopia. The experiment was conducted in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. DAP fertilizer at the rate of 100 kg/ha was uniformly applied at sowing. Agronomic parameters and biomass yield were determined. Results revealed that the tested varieties were varied significantly (P<0.05) for days to emergence, plant coverage, days to 50% flowering (forage harvest), plant height, and biomass yield. Accordingly, variety Hunter river was early emerged (8.33 days) and had maximum (68.33%) percentage of plot coverage though DZF-552 (9.08 days) was late emerged and had minimum (56.33%) percentage of plot coverage. Variety DZF-552 was late flowering while F-L-L-77 was early flowering. Hairy Peruvian (70.92 cm) gave the maximum plant height though DZF-552 (55.08 cm) gave a minimum height. The highest mean fresh biomass (6.46 t/ha) and dry matter yield (1.28 t/ha) were recorded from Segules-1359 variety. On the other hand, the lowest fresh biomass (4.79 t/ha) and dry matter yield (0.97 t/ha) were recorded from variety DZF-552. Based on the results, it could be concluded that variety segules-1359, F-L-L-77, Hunter river, and Hairy Peruvian could be recommended to grow under the midland ecological condition of Kellem Wollega zone and similar agro ecology for livestock producers as feed resources.},
     year = {2022}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Adaptation Trial of Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) Varieties for Midland Agro-Ecology of Kellem Wollega Zone, Oromia, Ethiopia
    AU  - Yerosan Wekgari
    AU  - Negasu Gamachu
    AU  - Fikre Diriba
    Y1  - 2022/03/31
    PY  - 2022
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.cbb.20221001.13
    DO  - 10.11648/j.cbb.20221001.13
    T2  - Computational Biology and Bioinformatics
    JF  - Computational Biology and Bioinformatics
    JO  - Computational Biology and Bioinformatics
    SP  - 14
    EP  - 19
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2330-8281
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.cbb.20221001.13
    AB  - Alfalfa is important improved forage legume that solves feed shortages and has economic value for livestock production in Ethiopia. Six alfalfa varieties were evaluated to identify adaptable and high biomass yielder under rain fed condition of mid-altitude of Kellem Wollega Zone, Oromia, Ethiopia. The experiment was conducted in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. DAP fertilizer at the rate of 100 kg/ha was uniformly applied at sowing. Agronomic parameters and biomass yield were determined. Results revealed that the tested varieties were varied significantly (P<0.05) for days to emergence, plant coverage, days to 50% flowering (forage harvest), plant height, and biomass yield. Accordingly, variety Hunter river was early emerged (8.33 days) and had maximum (68.33%) percentage of plot coverage though DZF-552 (9.08 days) was late emerged and had minimum (56.33%) percentage of plot coverage. Variety DZF-552 was late flowering while F-L-L-77 was early flowering. Hairy Peruvian (70.92 cm) gave the maximum plant height though DZF-552 (55.08 cm) gave a minimum height. The highest mean fresh biomass (6.46 t/ha) and dry matter yield (1.28 t/ha) were recorded from Segules-1359 variety. On the other hand, the lowest fresh biomass (4.79 t/ha) and dry matter yield (0.97 t/ha) were recorded from variety DZF-552. Based on the results, it could be concluded that variety segules-1359, F-L-L-77, Hunter river, and Hairy Peruvian could be recommended to grow under the midland ecological condition of Kellem Wollega zone and similar agro ecology for livestock producers as feed resources.
    VL  - 10
    IS  - 1
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Oromia Agricultural Research Institute, Haro Sabu Agricultural Research Center, Haro Sabu, Ethiopia

  • Oromia Agricultural Research Institute, Haro Sabu Agricultural Research Center, Haro Sabu, Ethiopia

  • Oromia Agricultural Research Institute, Haro Sabu Agricultural Research Center, Haro Sabu, Ethiopia

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