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Crop Production :: Forage Crops :: Kudirai Masal
Lucerne Meal Preparation Video

Kudirai Masal

Season and Varieties

Zone District/Season Month Variety
Irrigated
Coimbatore, Tiruppur, Erode, Krishnagiri and Theni Throughout the year
CO 2, CO 3 and CO 4

Particulars of Lucerne Variety

PARTICULARS CO 2 CO 3 CO 4
Parentage Poly cross derivative involving CO 1 Poly cross derivative involving CO 1 Poly cross derivative involving CO 1
Duration (Days) Perennial Perennial Perennial
Green fodder yield (t/ha/year) 130 (14 harvests) 125 (14 harvests) 120 (14 harvests)
Seed yield (kg/ha) 245 250 250
Quality characters
Protein content (%) 23.5 19-21 19-21
Dry matter (%) 16.8 22 23
Dry matter yield (t/ha/year) 21.94 27.50 27.60

Special features of Lucerne CO 2

  • More number of stems per crown with soft and dark green leaves
  • High crude protein (23.5 %) and dry matter yield (21.94 t/ha/yr)
  • Profuse flowering nature leads to enhanced seed yield
  • Superior ratooning ability and early flowering render 14 harvests per year
  • Highly palatable, preferred by milch cattle, goat, sheep and horses
  Profuse flowering of Lucerne CO 2

Crop Production:

Preparatory cultivation : Plough 2 to 3 times to obtain a good tilth and form beds and channels of convenient size
Seed rate : 20 kg/ha
Spacing : 25 cm x solid stand.
Manures and fertilizers : Basal
FYM   -           25 tonnes/ha
NPK    -           25: 120: 40 kg/ha
Seed rate : 15 kg/ha
Spacing : 25 cm apart in lines
Weed management : Hand weeding whenever necessary
Plant protection : Generally not required for fodder production
Water management : Immediately after planting; life irrigation on 3rd day and thereafter once in 10 days.
Harvest : First harvest 60-65 days after sowing subsequent harvests once in 20-25 days.
Green fodder yield : 90-130 t/ha/year (in 12-14 harvests)

Crop Protection:

American bollworm/Green bollworm: Helicoverpa armigera

Symptoms

:

Defoliation, Feeding damage on flowers and seeds

Identification of insect pests

 :
  • Eggs: Round, yellowish and singly laid.
  • Larva:  2” long, greenish with dark brown gray lines and dark and pale bands.  Chromorphism.
  • Pupa:Obtect type, brown colour
  • Adult: Forewing: Brown colour with a ‘V’ shaped speck . Hindwing: White with dull black border

Management

  • Application of nuclear polyhedrosis virus (NPV) at 3 x 1012 POB /ha in evening hours at 7 and 12 weeks after sowing.
  • Set up sex pheromone traps at 12/ha.
  • Conservation and augmentation of natural predators and parasites.
  • Release of egg parasitioid, Trichogramma chilonis at 6.25 cc/ha.


Bed Preparation Sowing
Irrigation after sowing Installation of sprinkler in Lucerne field
Weeding Manual Harvesting
Harvesting by brush cutter Green Fodder Yield

Seed Production Technologies

Land Requirements: Land shall be free of volunteer plants. Field Standards

A. General Requirements Isolation: Fields shall be isolated with following specified isolation distances. Land shall be free of volunteer plants. Field Standards

     Contaminants
 Minimum distance (meters)

Foundation Certified
Fields of other varieties 400 100
Fields of the same variety not conforming to varietal purity requirements for certification 400 100


B. Specific Requirements :

     Contaminants
 Minimum distance (meters)

Foundation Certified
Fields of other varieties 400 100
Fields of the same variety not conforming to varietal purity requirements for certification 400 100
                                    *Maximum permitted at and after flowering.
                                   **Objectionable weed shall be: Dodder (Cuscuta spp.)

Season :
  • Seed production is done once in a year during summer months
  • Green fodder should be harvested during first week of March and allowed for seed production in such a way that the peak period of flowering should coincide with summer.

Pre-sowing Seed treatment

 :
  • Treat the seeds with 600 g of Rhizobium and 600 g of Phosphobacteria before sowing.

            Seed rate            : 20 kg/ha
            Spacing            : 25 cm x 10 cm

Foliar application

:
  • Spray Borax @150 ppm to increase the seed quality.
  •  Spray ZnSO4 + Borax at 0.3% to improve pod and seed weight and also to increase the germination potential and vigour of seeds
Harvesting :

Hand pick the pods at maturity stage



Seed Standards

Factor Standards for each class
Foundation Certified
Pure seed (minimum) 35 50
Inert matter (maximum) 2.0% 2.0%
Other crop seeds (maximum) 10/kg 20/kg
Total Weed seeds (maximum)
10/kg
 20/kg
*Objectionable weed seeds (maximum) 5/kg 10/kg
Germination including hard seeds (minimum) 80% 80%
Moisture (maximum) 10.0% 10.0%
For vapour-proof containers (maximum) 7.0% 7.0%
                                     *Objectionable weed shall be: Dodder (Cuscuta spp.)

Lucerne Seed Setting
Updated on Apr 2023
 

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