How many varieties of alfalfa are there? What kind of horses eat? What kind of area is suitable for planting?

Lucky grass, scientific name alfalfa, dicotyledonous plants, Leguminosae, Papilionidae, Medicago, Medicago, Medicago and so on. Perennial herbs usually have only three leaves, so they are also called clover. Alfalfa has the most species, mostly wild herbs. There are three kinds of alfalfa in China: the first kind is purple alfalfa, with pods turning. The second kind of yellow alfalfa, with erect stems, crawls on the ground, yellow flowers and leaves like sickles. Two northern provinces. The third kind of wild alfalfa, commonly known as grass head and cauliflower, is wild and is planted as food in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River in China. Such people can eat, let alone horses. Alfalfa contains the most abundant vitamin K, which is higher than all vegetables. Others, such as vitamins C and B, are also quite rich and are very valuable foods. Alfalfa is known as the "king of pasture", which not only has high yield, but also has excellent grass quality, and all kinds of livestock and poultry like to eat it. At present, the planting and accumulation of alfalfa in China is about 654.38+0.33 million hm2. With the development of commodity economy, the scale of alfalfa industrialization has developed rapidly in recent years, and the planting and accumulation of alfalfa have been expanding. In order to plant alfalfa more scientifically and improve the quality and yield of alfalfa products, the technical points of alfalfa cultivation and cultivation management are introduced as follows.

First of all, farming techniques

(1) Alfalfa has wide adaptability and can grow in various terrains and soils. But the most suitable conditions are sandy loam with soft soil, pH value of 6.5-7.5, winter temperature of around -20℃ and annual precipitation of 300-800 mm, which is not suitable for planting in low-lying and waterlogged areas. It can be planted in mild saline-alkali soil, but when the soil salt content exceeds 0.3%, salt suppression measures should be taken. In order to facilitate mechanized transportation and operation management, try to choose plots with convenient transportation and large-area contiguous irrigation and drainage measures.

(2) Alfalfa seeds in soil preparation are small, grow slowly at seedling stage, and are vulnerable to weeds. Before sowing, it must be carefully prepared. The best time for soil preparation is summer, with deep ploughing and harrowing once to turn weeds into deep layers. Before sowing in autumn, if there are many weeds, it is necessary to turn them over once or twice and then rake them flat to meet the sowing requirements.

Alfalfa has nodules, which can provide nitrogen nutrition for roots. Nitrogen application is not recommended under general soil fertility conditions. According to related research, the effect of alfalfa yield increase is obvious after applying phosphate fertilizer, and the effect of applying sole fertilizer once is basically the same as that of applying fertilizer in stages later. Before sowing, apply organic fertilizer 2-3m2/ mu and pure phosphorus 8- 16kg/ mu at one time. Because the stems and leaves of alfalfa take away a lot of potassium in the growth process, some potassium fertilizer can be applied appropriately where conditions permit to maintain high yield. In order to prevent the occurrence of weeds in seedling stage, 48% trifluralin (100m1mu) was sprayed on the soil before sowing, and combined with soil preparation, it could be rotated into 5cm soil for 3-5 months.

Second, sow.

(1) Selecting seeds and selecting suitable improved varieties is the first step to successfully plant alfalfa. Because alfalfa is a perennial plant, it takes at least 2-3 years and 4-5 years to sow it once. Once the wrong choice is made, it will be damaged for several years. At present, Baoding alfalfa, Gannong L hybrid alfalfa, Xinjiang big leaf alfalfa, Aohan alfalfa and Zhongmu L salt-tolerant alfalfa are excellent varieties in China. The better imports are Queen of America, WL323, WL320, Astar, Bailu and Liruoye in Japan, and alfalfa in the north. The varieties introduced from abroad have good uprightness and are conducive to mechanized harvesting.

(2) Seed Treatment Some seeds produced in China contain many impurities, and the quality cannot be guaranteed. Therefore, they need to be cleaned to make the cleanliness above 90% and the quality is poor.

The germination rate is above 85% and the purity is above 98%. Seeds are best pelleted before sowing. According to the formula of seed 500kg+ coating material 150kg+ adhesive 1.5kg+ water 75kg+ ammonium molybdate 1.5kg, the seeds can grow healthily without being harmed by pests and weeds at seedling stage.

(3) Sowing time The northern region where crops are harvested twice a year generally adopts autumn sowing. The soil moisture is sufficient, the temperature is suitable, and there are fewer weeds and pests. Autumn sowing in Shaanxi, Hebei, Shanxi, Shandong, Tianjin and Beijing is the best, and the sowing period is August 10-September10. Too late affects normal wintering.

(4) In most areas, the sowing method and sowing amount are mainly drill sowing, and the row spacing is 30cm, which is beneficial to ventilation and light transmission and field management. The sowing amount is generally around 1kg/ mu, with less farming and more saline-alkali land. If the sowing amount is too large, the seedlings will be sparse. Sowing depth is the key to affect the quality of seedling emergence, which is generally too deep, and the optimal depth is 0.5- 1 cm.

Third, on-site management

(1) Weeding is one of the main contents of alfalfa field management. One is at the seedling stage, and the other is after the summer harvest. Because alfalfa grew weakly in these two periods, it was seriously harmed by weeds, especially after summer harvest, weeds grew rapidly in synchronization with water and heat. No matter what method is adopted, it should be standardized in time. Choose herbicides carefully to avoid poisoning livestock.

(2) Alfalfa irrigation drainage consumes a lot of water, and 800L water is needed to produce lkg dry matter. Water before winter, after turning green and during drought. Attention should be paid to drainage in rainy season in coastal and low-injection areas, and alfalfa will die after 24 hours of flooding.

(3) Prevention of pests and diseases During alfalfa growth, it is necessary to prevent pests and diseases in time, otherwise the yield and quality will be affected. Usually used to kill moths.

Spraying pine, dimethoate and fenvalerate to control pests, such as rust, brown spot and downy mildew, and using carbendazim and thiophanate to control pests.

Fourth, harvest

(1) The harvesting period generally begins at the early flowering stage, that is, when the flowering stage reaches110, it cannot exceed the full flowering stage at the latest.

(II) Harvest Times and Stubble Height Alfalfa is a perennial plant with strong reproductive ability. You can harvest 3-4 times a year, and the last harvest should not be too late, otherwise it will affect the accumulation of nutrients and is not conducive to safe wintering. Generally, 40-50 days of growth period should be set aside after harvesting. The suitable stubble height is 5cm.