EFFECTS OF LIME ON ALFALFA CULTIVARS YIELD ON ACIDIC SOIL

Abstract

Soil acidity limits the cultivation of alfalfa and the effecting of high yields. The experiment was set up on acidic soil to determine the effect of lime (0, 1 t ha-1, 2.5 t ha-1) on forage yield of alfalfa cultivars (K-28, Zuzana, NS-Nijagara) in the year of establishment. The yield of the liming variants was higher in all three cut and total yield, compared to the control. The significant differences in yield were only in the third cut, where the K-28 (4.76 t ha-1) and NS-Nijagara (4.46 t ha-1) had a higher yield compared to the Zuzana (3.65 t ha-1 Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) is one of the most important forage crops, cultivated on over 33 million hectares worldwide, due to its high nutritional value and high yield (Radović et al., 2009). In the Republic of Serbia, the total growing area in 2021 was 106.340 ha, with an average hay yield of 5.1 t ha). Interaction cultivar/lime was significant only in the first cut, while in the other two cuts and in the total yield it wasn’t.