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Fodder crop growing guide
Lucerne, also called alfalfa, is a deep-rooted perennial legume that can be cut many times a year. It needs a shallow sowing into a firm seedbed, well-drained near-neutral soil and the right rhizobium inoculant.
Inoculate raw seed with the alfalfa-specific rhizobium inoculant just before sowing. Much commercial seed is pre-coated; recoat seed whose inoculant date has expired. Heat kills the bacteria, so keep inoculated seed cool and sow it the same day.
Not usually needed for field sowing. Some lucerne seed lots contain a share of hard seed that does not take up water at once; the share differs between cultivars.
Not needed.
Not needed for field sowing, and soaking can wash off the inoculant. Soaking is only used when sprouting seed for eating.
Germination is best at 20-25 °C (68-77 °F) and falls sharply at 40 °C (104 °F). Tropical Forages names autumn and early winter as the best sowing time because weed competition is lowest; on the Indian plains that means the cool season after the monsoon. In cold-winter climates autumn-sown plants need three or four trifoliate leaves before winter.
About 6 mm (1/4 in), at most 13 mm (1/2 in); 2 cm (3/4 in) only in sandy soil. If you broadcast, roll or firm the soil before and after sowing.
Deep, well-drained soil with pH 6.5-7.0. Below pH 5.5 aluminium toxicity sets in, so lime acidic soil at least six months before sowing. Avoid sites that flood.
Water immediately after sowing; TNAU gives a second irrigation on the third day. After that, water every 10 days or so rather than keeping the soil wet.
Full sun. Lucerne seedlings compete poorly with weeds and shade.
Under a week in good conditions. Gaps after two weeks usually mean the seed was sown too deep or the seedbed was loose.
Do not transplant. Drill or broadcast into a fine, firm seedbed; an adult footprint should sink no more than about 6 mm (1/4 in). TNAU sows 20 kg/ha in rows 25 cm apart; Arkansas Extension uses 20-22 kg/ha (18-20 lb/acre) for pure stands.
Keep the young stand weed-free, by hand weeding in small plots. TNAU takes the first cut 60-65 days after sowing; in established stands cut at early flowering, when about 10% of stems are in bloom.
TNAU applies 25 t/ha farmyard manure with a basal 25:120:40 kg/ha NPK. In gardens work in compost and correct the pH; inoculated plants do not need regular nitrogen feeding.
Root reserves are lowest about two weeks after cutting and highest at full bloom. TNAU cuts every 20-25 days after the first cut, for 12-14 cuts a year under irrigation in Tamil Nadu.
Lucerne suits temperate, Mediterranean, subtropical and upland tropical areas. In wet humid lowlands, disease and grass competition can limit stands to one or two years.
Fresh lucerne can cause bloat in cattle. Do not turn hungry animals onto a lush stand; offer dry roughage first.
Sow lucerne shallowly into a firm, well-drained seedbed for many cuts of green fodder.
Yes, unless the seed is already coated or lucerne has grown well on the land recently. Effective nodules let the plant supply its own nitrogen.
About 6 mm (1/4 in), and no more than 13 mm (1/2 in) except in sandy soil. Deep sowing is the most common reason for a failed stand.
TNAU takes the first cut 60-65 days after sowing, then every 20-25 days. Elsewhere the usual guide is early flowering.
