Adaptation of landrace and variety germplasm and selection strategies for lucerne in the Mediterranean basin

Measuring the performance of perennial alfalfa with drought tolerance indices

“…Moreover, Moroccan 'Erfoud 1' is widely adapted to drought and saline soil (Annicchiarico et al, 2013). The study conducted on cultivars, such as the ones used in our experiment, except for 'Tamantit' and 'Africaine', during the first three years of production in six geographically different sites (two in Tunisia, two in Algeria, one in Italy, and one in Morocco), showed that 'Ameristand 801S' and 'Mamuntanas' were the most profitable and 'Erfoud 1' ranked among the top six cultivars (Annicchiarico et al, 2011).…”

“…Group 3 of the third year of production and group 1 of the fourth year contained cultivars that adapt to abiotic stress (water stress and salt stress). The Italian 'Mamuntanas' and 'Ecotipo siciliano' grow well in the rainfed trial and the American 'Ameristand 801S' tolerates salinity (Annicchiarico et al, 2011). Moreover, Moroccan 'Erfoud 1' is widely adapted to drought and saline soil (Annicchiarico et al, 2013).…”

“…It improves soil N fertility (Latrach et al, 2014), protects soils that are vulnerable to wind and water erosion (Abdelguerfi and Abdelguerfi-Laouar, 2002), and can improve the sustainability of crop-livestock systems in the Mediterranean basin (Annicchiarico et al, 2011).…”

Soil bulk electrical resistivity and forage ground cover: nonlinear models in an alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) case study

“…Multi-depth continuous resistivity profiling has been used to delineate permanent soil features at farm scale (Besson et al, 2010;André et al, 2012;Bouvat et al, 2014). Deep soil variability might be relevant for deep-rooted perennials such as alfalfa that can fuel regrowth by relying on residual deep soil water reserves in late spring (Annicchiarico et al, 2011). In order to profitably use sensor-based soil information in agricultural management, however, ER variability must be related to crop growth.…”

Biomass Yield Potential and Herbage Quality of Alfalfa (Medicago Sativa L.) Genotypes in the Central Highland of Ethiopia

“…Alfalfa is a drought tolerant forage crop because it has a deep root system that reaches down to 4 m and to 7-9 m in well drained soils. The plant survive long periods of water stress by impeding its vegetative growth (Annicchiarico et al, 2010) and accessing water from deep layers through its long root system (Volaire, 2008). The optimum growing air and soil temperatures for alfalfa are 27°C and 12°C respectively, but it is tolerant of air temperatures above and below 27°C (McKenzie et al, 1988).…”