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| ALFALFA: ‘The queen of fodder’ | | | Dr. Parveen Kumar, Dr. D. Namgayal | 6/22/2019 11:40:25 PM |
| The Ladakh region in the country stands as one of the highest (2900 m to 5900 m above sea level) position. It lies in coldest arid zone. Leh and Kargil are two districts, which jointly form Ladakh region, the principal cold desert of India. Leh with an area of 45,110 sq km is the largest district in the country. Being a cold arid region, the temperature ranges between -35°C in winter to +35°C in summer. The region generally has short mild summer and a long cold winter. One of the pecuilar features of the region is the delicate interwoven of agriculture and animal husbandry with the social fabric of the region. The cropping season is just confined to five months due to harsh climatic conditions. Wheat and Barley are major cereal crops grow in region along with some pulses like lentil, vegetables like cabbage, cauliflower, radish, coriander, spinach and fruit like apricot. Livestock is another important component contributing to the livelihood of the communities of this region. As such fodder production in cold arid zone is a priority for the farming community, largely due to the long severe winters which is devoid of any green vegetation.
Alfalfa (Medicago Sativa L) also called as the 'Queen of Fodder' or 'Green Gold' is the main fodder crop grown in this region. Locally called as 'Buksukh' the fodder owing to its well adoptability has now covered almost the entire area in this cold region under fodder crop. It is one of the leguminous fodders grown as a perennial crop that has the potential to grow and regrow for six to eight years. It requires minimum management practices and care in subsequent years. Alfalfa is now considered as the wonder plant that feeds animals, soil ad humans. The plant is also well adapted to the atrocities of harsh weather like cold winters and drought conditions. As alfalfa is still largely grown as a traditional crop, only one local variety called as 'Ole' or 'Yarkandi Ole' is cultivated. In this cold region three cultivars are seen which can be distinguished morphologically as:
Medicago Sativa: The species has purple flowers and is mostly preferred due to its more leafs. The plant height varies from 30-100 centimeters and the species is more susceptible to insect pest attack.
Medicago Falcata: This species bears yellow flowers and is the most productive when compared to other species. The plant height varies from 30 to 150 centimeters. It shows mild resistance to insect pests.
Medicago Media: The species is dull white light yellow to light purple and tall and vigorous. It is intermediate in adaptation and susceptibility to insect pest attack as compared to other two species.
Benefits of Alfalfa:
Alfalfa acts as a natural soil binder thereby minimizing soil erosion to a considerable extent in a region which is very mush prone to erosion owing to the extreme weather conditions. It also improves the soil health owing to its leguminous nature. The fodder yield of alfalfa is at par with any other fodder crop. It has also the capability to draw nutrients and moisture from deeper layers. The cost of cultivation is too less as compared to growing other cereal crops. It requires minimum inputs and minimum management. As it has spreading nature, it also acts as a cover crop thereby reducing the evaporation losses and weed growth
Yield:
The yield level of Alfalfa varies from place to place. The production on an average varies from 6.0-7.0 tones of green fodder and 2-3 t of dry fodder. The grain yield on an average ranges from 0.15 to 0.2 t/ha.
Nutrients composition:
The fodder contains 12.5-23.9 % crude protein, 0.3-0.4 % phosphorus, 1.5-2.5% potassium, 0.9-2.0% calcium and 0.05-0.2% sodium. It is also very rich in vitamin A, B and D. Double cut varieties of this species are available, first cut after 50-55 days of sprouting (mid June) and second and final cut is taken at maturity (mid-September).
Alfalfa (Medicago Sativa)
Alfalfa (Medicago Falcata)
Alfalfa (Medicago media)
The Himalayas in the country occupies only seven per cent of its area. The twelve Himalayan states have a huge livestock population. This huge livestock population is increasing in number. This has led to a more pressure on our natural pastures and our grazing lands. This has already led to acute fodder shortage in some regions. This shortage can assume alarming dimensions and a major bottleneck in improving the efficiency of livestock sector. This ultimately will affect the government ambitious programme of doubling farmers' income by the year 2022. Therefore, the immediate attention is needed for re- generation of pasture lands in the country and increase in alfalfa production areas. Also it is necessary to promote its safe production by protecting it from diseases and insect pests. Among the different insect pests Alfalfa weevil (Hypera Postca Gyllenhal) has been identified as the most important pest consuming its foliage. The larvae of weevil feed on the interveinal tissues sometimes leaving only leaf veins. It is therefore necessary to make peoples aware of the different management physical, chemical as well as biological management practices of alfalfa. Equally important is to develop some high yielding varieties of this fodder that can survive the diseases and insect pest attack. |
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