The assessment of prospective populations of variable alfalfa (Medicago varia Mar.)

The research objective was to give theoretical and practical justification to a complex of signs of modern varieties - populations of alfalfa meeting the requirements of agrarian and industrial complex. The research problems were to study the efficiency of the output on dry matter in the control nursery (CN); to estimate a variety sample on height and leafiness; to reveal the varieties - alfalfa populations most adapted to ecological conditions of the region; to use the received material for the creation of highly productive varieties to compensate their lack of agricultural production. Laying the experiments and observations was made according to the technique of the State variety testing of crops and Methodical instructions on carrying out field experiments with forage crops of All-Russia Research Institute of Forages in 2017-2019. The research objects were 20 populations of variable alfalfa in a control nursery, generated by the method of polycross. Two varieties were chosen as the standard: Kuybyshevskaya and Izumruda. Different years of heat and moisture availability allowed studying more fully the set of indicators affecting the yield of dry matter in seeded samples. The highest yield of dry matter for 3 years of life and 2 years of use in the control nursery was noted in the samples: Synthetic 4D32, Diana 21-1, Smes otborov 1, Plodovitaya, Biotype 1-16, Synthetic 4, which was 0.63-0.75 kg/sq.m. The sample Synthetic 4D5 which average productivity in the sum for 2 hay crops for 2 years of using made 1.05 kg/sq.m was the most productive. The height of the plants of alfalfa in the first hay crop varied at the allocated samples from 78.75 to 89.45 cm. The greatest leafiness was noted in the samples: Biotype 1-16 (42.4%); Synthetic 4D5 (42.7); Plodovitaya (42.8) and Smes otborov 1 (43.9 %). The share of 1 mowing in the average over the years of research was 64.5-73.0 %, from the second - 27.0-36.6 %. Noted populations can be recommended as new initial material for using in the selection of this culture.