engleski

Influences of liming on yields of alfalfa hay

Alfalfa is the most important forage legume on cultivated fields in Croatia (about 45000 ha of growing area – status 2003). The field experiment with application of four dolomite (Agrovapno MgO: 56% CaO and 40% MgO) rates (0, 10, 20, 30 and 40 tha-1) were conducted in autumn of 2004. The experiment was conducted by randomized block design in four replicates. Alfalfa (cultivar Osječanka 88 of the Agricultural Institute Osijek, Croatia) was sown on March 25, 2005. Four cuttings / year were made. Fresh mass of alfalfa (cutting area 0.25 m2) was oven-dried at 65 oC. Year was the most influencing factor of alfalfa hay yields (13.03, 28.63, 29.43 and 32.77 tha-1, for 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008, respectively). Liming resulted in low increases of yields up to 5% only. We presume that possible high tolerance of Osječanka 88 cultivar to soil acidity could be the main reason of low effects of liming on alfalfa yields.

alfalfa ; dolomite ; hay yield ; liming ; Osječanka 88 cultivar

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