Yield and quality of alfalfa in mixture with grasses in agroecological conditions of Vojvodina

Abstract

Alfalfa is the most important forage crop in agroecological conditions of Serbia and it could be establish as a pure stand as well as in the mixture with grasses. The aim of field trial was to analyse forage yield and quality of pure stand of alfalfa, orchard grass and tall fescue and their mixtures in agroecological conditions of Vojvodina province. In both full harvest years annual yield of alfalfa pure stand was on the level as mixture with grasses, while pure stand of grasses achieved lower forage yield. This is a result of lower adaptation of grasses on weather conditions (precipitation and temperature), in particular weed invasion during the summer months. Apart from selection of adequate grass species and varieties in mixture with alfalfa it is also important to determine grass/legume ratio in order to achieve high forage yield and quality.