Detailed Explanation of Alfalfa Planting Methods and Technical Key Points

Alfalfa is the forage crop with the largest cultivated area in our country, featuring high yield and excellent grass quality. So, how do you plant alfalfa? Let's take a look.

1. Sowing period: It can be sown in all four seasons

Sowing rate: 1—1.2Kg/mu.

Sowing method: open furrows and sow in lines along a string, furrow width 1.5m, row spacing 20cm, sowing width 5cm, 6 rows per furrow, press the soil after sowing.

2. Field management: carry out careful management at the seedling stage, pull weeds by hand, and carry out intertillage and weeding; intertillage and weeding should be carried out immediately after each cutting.

3. Fertilization: apply 2000 kg of farmyard manure and 50 kg of calcium magnesium phosphate per mu as base fertilizer, applied all at once. For topdressing, after each cutting, broadcast it after irrigation according to the soil fertility conditions.

4. Irrigation and drainage: irrigate immediately after sowing on sunny days, but the water must not flow over the furrow surface; after emergence, irrigation may cover the furrows. In the rainy season, make full use of the ditches between furrows and the drainage ditches around the field to drain excess water, so as to avoid weak or dead seedlings.

5. Utilization: about 40 days after sowing, carry out the first cleaning cutting, leaving stubble about 5cm; cut when the forage grass grows to the early flowering stage.

Alfalfa is a long-lived forage grass; one planting can be used for 7-8 years. It can be harvested 2-3 times a year, with a fresh grass yield of 37.5-52.2 tons per hectare. Alfalfa harvested at the flowering stage has a dry matter content of 25%-30% in the fresh grass, up to a maximum of 35%, and the hay yield per hectare can reach more than 75 tons.