Effect of Irrigation and Cutting Management on Growth and Yield of Lucerne (Medicago sativa L.)

Abstract

A field experiment comprising four irrigation levels (40, 60, 80 and 100 mm cumulative pan evaporation, CPE) and three cutting schedules (50, 75 and 100 days after sowing) was conducted in a split-plot design at Dr. Panjabrao Deshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth, Akola, during rabi 2000–2001. Green fodder and seed yields of lucerne increased significantly with increasing irrigation frequency. Scheduling irrigation at 40 mm CPE resulted in 27.32, 61.42 and 71.23 per cent higher seed yield than irrigation at 60, 80 and 100 mm CPE, respectively. Green fodder and seed yields also increased significantly with an increase in the number of cuttings from one to three. Three cuttings (50, 75 and 100 DAS) produced 328.14 and 158.53 per cent higher green fodder yield than one cutting (50 DAS) and two cuttings (50 and 75 DAS), respectively. Three cuttings resulted in significantly higher seed yield (384 kg/ha) than two cuttings (320 kg/ha) and one cutting (308 kg/ha), while the difference between one and two cuttings was not significant. For obtaining higher seed yield of lucerne, irrigation at 40 mm CPE followed by three cuttings for green fodder and allowing the crop to mature for seed production was found suitable.