Yield and net return from alfalfa cultivars under irrigation in Southern Alberta

Attram, Jeremiah; Acharya, S. N.; Woods, Shelley A.; Smith, Elwin G.; Thomas, James E.

doi:10.1139/cjps-2015-0066

Cited by 9 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 27 publications

(38 reference statements)

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“…The soil water use was calculated using the water balance model equation from the soil water profiles measured from: where ET j is the soil water depletion of stage j ( mm); H i is the thickness of the soil layer (cm); θ ij and θ ij+1 are the soil water content of layer i in stages j and j+ 1, respectively; M is water applied for irrigation (mm); and P is precipitation (mm); and the daily precipitation values were obtained from the weather station located at the Awei experimental station. K is groundwater recharging (mm), which was considered to be zero, while the located groundwater depth was lower than 3 m. C is drainage (mm), which was calculated as C = ( PZMC j+1 - PZMC j) [ 4 ], where PZMC j and PZMC j+1 are the soil water content of the percolation zone (60–100 cm) and C is set to zero if PZMC j+1 < PZMC j . When the groundwater table was lower than 3 m below the ground surface, the capillary increase in the groundwater was negligible.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Adaptability of shallow subsurface drip irrigation of alfalfa in an arid desert area of Northern Xinjiang

et al. 2018

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A suitable irrigation method adopted to arid desert conditions, including a special soil structure and specialized plants, has been continuously studied and improved. A field study was conducted in the Awei irrigation area of Aletai in Xinjiang in 2015 and 2016 to investigate the applicability of shallow subsurface drip irrigation (SSDI) in an arid desert area. A completely randomized block design with three replications and three treatments for drip tape subsurface depths at 5, 10, 20 cm was established. The results indicated that the vertical distribution of the soil moisture of subsurface drip irrigation (SDI, buried depth at 20 cm) was mainly concentrated at 0–60 cm, while SSDI (buried depth at 5 and 10 cm) was concentrated at 0–30 cm. However, the roots distributions were concentrated at 0–30 cm for SDI and SSDI. The chlorophyll content and water consumption intensity for alfalfa first increased and then decreased in arid desert conditions. The dry yield and water use efficiency (WUE) of SSDI (buried depth at 10 cm) were higher than those of SDI. The SSDI was practical in arid desert conditions and the recommended buried depth was 10 cm.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Production agriculture in the arid desert predominantly depends on irrigation. It is well known that alfalfa is a large water user [ 4 ]. The seasonal crop water requirements for alfalfa is higher compared to those of other drought crops.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adaptability of shallow subsurface drip irrigation of alfalfa in an arid desert area of Northern Xinjiang

et al. 2018

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“…Pembleton et al [49] reported lower irrigated alfalfa annual forage yield than the present study which varied from 14.63 to 15.74 Mg ha −1 in Australia. Attram et al [50] reported very low yield of four alfalfa cultivars with maximum annual yield of 6.77 Mg ha −1 in southern Alberta (Canada) while Dill et al [51] reported annual alfalfa yields ranging from 8.4 to 15.6 Mg ha −1 in the same region. Bolger and Matches [37] reported alfalfa yield of 20.70 Mg ha −1 .…”

Section: Alfalfa Annual Forage Yield As Function Of Fall Dormancy-ratingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation of Different Fall Dormancy-Rating Alfalfa Cultivars for Forage Yield in a Semiarid Environment

et al. 2020

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Alfalfa is one of the most important, nutritive, and high yielding forage legumes planted across the US. Fall dormancy in alfalfa influences forage yield characteristics and the plants persistence mostly under the cold and temperate climate. The objective of this study was to evaluate alfalfa cultivars with different fall dormancy-ratings for their forage yield at each cut and the annual forage yield. Two sets of 24 alfalfa cultivars were evaluated in a field experiment conducted at the Agricultural Science Center at Farmington, NM. The first set of 24 cultivars was planted late fall 2007 at seeding rate of 22.4 kg ha−1 and managed for the 2007–2011 period and the second set was planted late fall 2009 and managed during the 2009–2013 period. Average forage yield varied with years from 7.6 to 2.9 Mg ha−1, 6.8 to 4.3 Mg ha−1, 9.2 to 4.2 Mg ha−1, and 7.9 to 3.2 Mg ha−1 during the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th alfalfa cut, respectively. The results showed no statistical differences between the moderately dormant, dormant, and the non-dormant alfalfa cultivars while they showed higher forage yield than the very dormant and semi-dormant alfalfa cultivars. There was a decreasing trend in forage yield from the first cut to the fourth cut in each growing season. However, the very dormant cultivars showed the lowest forage yield. Alfalfa forage yield decreased from the cut 1 to the cut 4 which represented on average 33, 29, 22, and 16% of the annual yield. The semi-dormant cultivars obtained the lowest forage yield at the first and second cutting while there was no difference between the cultivars for the third and fourth harvests. Average forage yields per harvest were 5.7, 5.9, 6.0, 5.5, and 5.9 Mg ha−1 for the very dormant, dormant, moderately dormant, semi-dormant, and non-dormant alfalfa cultivars, respectively. Annual forage yield varied with alfalfa fall dormancy-ratings and ranged from 15.5 to 29.9 Mg ha−1 with the highest forage yield achieved during the third years of the production. The moderately dormant and the non-dormant cultivars showed the highest yield during the first harvest year while the very dormant cultivars and dormant cultivars had the lowest forage yield. Alfalfa cultivars with a fall dormancy range 4–5 may be considered for alfalfa production in northwest New Mexico however, the good agricultural practices (conservation tillage, fertilizer management based on soil residual available nutrient and crop requirement, recommended planting rate, weed and pest management, irrigation scheduling to match crop evapotranspiration) should be the most important to maximize alfalfa forage yield in the southwest US.

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“…Strategies that focus on planting densities as modified by row spacings that are substantially lower than typical for irrigated, pure stands of alfalfa and use of drought-tolerant cultivars may be practical in a rainfed, semiarid grassland. There is scant evidence of wide variation among alfalfa cultivars in soil water use (Attram, Acharya, Woods, Smith, & Thomas, 2016;Jefferson & Cutforth, 2005;Lindenmayer, Hansen, Brummer, & Pritchett, 2011;Undersander, 1987). However, a few studies reported differences between cultivars in efficiency of using soil water (Dobrenz, Wright, Humphrey, Massengale, & Kneebone, 1969;Grimes, Wiley, & Shesley, 1992).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Row spacing of alfalfa interseeded into native grass pasture influences soil‐plant‐water relations

et al. 2020

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Interseeding alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) can improve forage quality of grasslands by adding a high‐protein species, but this runs the risk of accelerating soil water depletion. The objective was to evaluate effects of cultivar and row spacing of alfalfa on soil water balance and plant water potentials (Ψ) of two upright‐type cultivars, NuMex Bill Melton and WL 440HQ, and a prostrate‐type Falcata‐Rhizoma blend, interseeded into native grasses in October 2015 near Lubbock, Texas. Alfalfa was interseeded at 36‐cm (narrow) and 71‐cm (wide) row spacings. Soil volumetric water content (VWC) and midday Ψstem and Ψleaf were measured weekly in 2017 and 2018 growing seasons. Soil VWC was not affected by alfalfa cultivars (P > .05), whereas alfalfa row spacings differed (P < .05). Narrow spacing caused lower (P < .05) VWC than wide spacing relative to the grass‐only control in both the upper 40‐ and 40‐ to 100‐cm layers of the soil. Wide‐row spacing had similar VWC to control in 2017 for both soil layers (P > .05). Soil water depletion increased with alfalfa crown density (r = .60, P < .05) in association with enhanced evapotranspiration and denser root mass below 30‐cm soil depth. Grass and alfalfa Ψstem and Ψleaf were depressed in narrow rows relative to wide rows and control, indicating that presence of alfalfa intensified competition with the grass for soil water. The wide‐row treatment seldom had adverse effects on grass water stress. Wide‐row spacing achieved a favorable compromise between enhanced water use and improved stand productivity.

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Yield and net return from alfalfa cultivars under irrigation in Southern Alberta

Cited by 9 publications

References 27 publications

Adaptability of shallow subsurface drip irrigation of alfalfa in an arid desert area of Northern Xinjiang

Adaptability of shallow subsurface drip irrigation of alfalfa in an arid desert area of Northern Xinjiang

Evaluation of Different Fall Dormancy-Rating Alfalfa Cultivars for Forage Yield in a Semiarid Environment

Row spacing of alfalfa interseeded into native grass pasture influences soil‐plant‐water relations

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