Growth, Forage Production, and Quality of Medicago sativa in the Northern Part of South Korea

Yowook Song¹, Sang-Hoon Lee¹, Hyung Soo Park¹, Jae Hoon Woo¹, Bo Ram Choi¹, Eun A Lim¹ and Ki-Won Lee^1,

¹National Institute of Animal Science, RDA, Cheonan 31000, South Korea

Cite this paper:
Yowook Song, Sang-Hoon Lee, Hyung Soo Park, Jae Hoon Woo, Bo Ram Choi, Eun A Lim and Ki-Won Lee. Growth, Forage Production, and Quality of Medicago sativa in the Northern Part of South Korea. Journal of Food and Nutrition Research. 2022; 10(3):209-215. doi: 10.12691/jfnr-10-3-5

Abstract

A three-year study was conducted in the Pyeongchang area, South Korea, to evaluate the growth and productivity of 26 alfalfa varieties and to select those with superior feed values. We employed a randomized block design with three replications. HybriForce-2410 presented the highest dry matter yield (28.87 t/ha) among the cultivars and the highest three-year average fresh matter yield (118.78 t/ha). The three-year average dry matter yield of Alfalfa-short (26.55 t/ha) and Shockwave BR (26.21 t/ha) were also significantly (p<0.05) higher than that of the other cultivars. The acid detergent fiber content of HybriForce-2410 was the lowest, although not significantly different from that of the other cultivars. Burgaltai had the lowest neutral detergent fiber content, whereas A Er Gang Jin had the highest. The crude protein (CP) content ranged from 16.90% to 21.33% at mowing during early flowering; Burgaltai had the highest CP among the cultivars. Digestibility differed significantly among the cultivars compared with other feed value items. Although Burgaltai presented the best feed value, HybriForce-2410 showed the best results for both productivity and feed value.

Keywords:
alfalfa cultivar feed value forage pasture

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