Cultivation Techniques for Sweet Clover and Methods for Feeding It to Rabbits

Sweet clover (scented sweet clover, pennyroyal-like melilot) is an annual or biennial herbaceous plant of the genus Melilotus in the Fabaceae family. This herb has relatively high nutritional value, a fine and tender texture, and is green and succulent, making it a good feed for livestock.

1. Site Selection and Land Preparation

1. Site selection: Choose a site with few weeds from the previous crop, preferably a plot that has been plowed year after year.

2. Land preparation: Careful land preparation is required, with 1500 kg of organic base fertilizer applied per mu and 20 kg of superphosphate as seed fertilizer.

2. Sowing and Management

1. Sowing: Use 1.5-2.5 kg of seed per mu. For spring sowing, sow when the soil has thawed to a depth of 20 cm in early spring. For winter sowing, sow after Frost's Descent when the soil temperature is below 2°C; for summer sowing, there should be no less than 60 days of growing period. Before sowing, use a rice milling machine to grind off the outer shell or scarify the seed coat. The row spacing for drilling is 40-50 cm; if densely planted, the row spacing is 10-15 cm, so that the sweet clover closes the rows early and suppresses weed growth. Sow at a depth of 2 cm and press the soil after sowing.

2. Management: Timely intertillage and weeding are required, and before overwintering, timely