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WHAT WE SELL
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ADDITIONAL INFOS
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For more information
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Alfalfa
- general considerations in selecting a variety
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 Sowing
adapted varieties and implementing outstanding management techniques
are major keys if you are aiming at high yields and good quality
with your alfalfa crops. ICS has a long experience in selecting the best varieties for alfalfa production in arid and semi-arid areas. Magna 901 for example has proven many times successful.
Find below various key points for variety choice :
Local adaptation and stand
persistence. "Optimal growth begins with matching a plant
species and cultivar to an ideal environment". The best indication
that a variety is locally adapted and persistent can only be given
by different tests over a wide range of locations and years. ICS
therefore conducts many trials
as shown in the next page.
Dormancy & Winterhardiness.
Each variety has a fall dormancy rating ranging from 1 (most dormant)
to 9 (non-dormant). In tropical and arid areas with low to non existent
freeze, chosen cultivars generally have a dormancy rating of 8 or
9.
Seed quality. Although rising rates strongly depend on soil preparation
and sowing techniques, seed quality must not be underestimated. All seeds provided by ICS have been graded in
terms of rising rates.
Disease and pest resistance. Selected varieties must at least have
a moderate resistance rating (MR) to the main diseases: bacterial wilt, fusarium wilt and phytophtora root rot.
The varieties included in our general catalog all meet these criteria.
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Stand persistence
Defined as the total life length over the years. It depends on cultivars but also management practices such as harvest
management decisions.
Fall dormancy
Fall dormancy in alfalfa is one of the most important traits in determining
the adaptation of an alfalfa variety; it is defined as a reduction in
plant height in response to reductions in day length and temperature.
Fall dormancy is rated 1 to 9, 1 being the most dormant. Recent progress
in research have lead to cultivars with dormancy ratings up to 10 or 10.5
but the commercial varieties aren't available on the market at this time.
Less dormant varieties generally have higher yield potential, earlier
maturity and increased rates of recovery after harvest.
Winterhardiness protection
Defined as plant survival and rated 1 to 6, 1 being the most hardy, 6 the least. Historically closely related to fall
dormancy: least dormant cultivars having a low winter hardiness and a reduced stand life in general; since the 1980s,
breeders have shown that it is possible to break the relantionship between these two traits. This was an important
change for it made possible the selection of high yielding varieties (low dormancy) with a good winter survival.
Useful links
 Alfalfa
Workgroup - UC Davis
Dairyland
Seed
Jouffray Drillaud
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SEEDS & agricultural MACHINERY - with expertise and services for successful crop management
