The study of the productivity dynamics and quality of forage made from different varieties of alfalfa and sainfoin

Alfalfa and sainfoin have always been the main perennial fodder legumes in the south of Russia. Because of their economic and biological properties, crop and fodder production have always relied on their cultivation and will rely on it in the future. Insufficient cultivated areas of these legumes make it impossible to provide livestock with balanced feed, to use climatic, soil and plant resources rationally. The study of the varietal composition of alfalfa and sainfoin developed in the FSBSI “Agricultural Research Center “Donskoy” showed that the productivity potential of these varieties makes it possible to obtain a fairly high yields of forage under various weather-climatic conditions. For 6 years the average yield of green mass of the standard variety “Rostovskaya 90” was 27.0 t/ha in the first cutting and 18.1 t/ha in the second cutting, and in the total for two cuttings it is 45.1 t/ha. In the first cutting for 5 years out of 6, the green mass pro­ductivity of the alfalfa varieties “Lyutsiya” and “Selyanka” significantly exceeded the standard variety. On average for two cuttings, green mass productivity of the varieties “Lyutsiya” (47.8 t/ha) and “Selyanka” (48.9 t/ha) was higher than that of the standard variety. The yield of absolutely dry matter of the standard variety “Rostovskaya 90” varied from 6.7 t/ha to 7.7 t/ha in the first cutting and from 4.3 t/ha to 5.2 t/ha in the second cutting. The yield of absolutely dry matter of the alfalfa varieties “Lyutsiya” and “Selyanka” reliably exceeded the standard variety in the first cutting, but in the second cutting their yield was equal to the yield of the standard variety. According to the green mass yield of one cutting, the studied varieties of sainfoin were as good as the alfalfa productivity in the first cutting. The green mass pro­ductivity of the standard variety “Zernogradsky 2” ranged from 24.4 to 31.1 t/ha, the green mass productivity of the sainfoin variety “Veles” ranged from 26.8 t/ha to 39.4 t/ha, and the green mass productivity of the variety “Sudar” ranged from 28.8 t/ha to 33.3 t/ha. The dry matter productivity of the sainfoin varieties developed in a similar way. The minimum dry matter productivity of the standard variety “Zernogradsky 2” was 6.1 t/ha, the maximum was 7.8 t/ha. The minimum dry matter productivity of the variety “Veles” was 6.7 t/ha and the maximum was 9.8 t/ha. The minimum dry matter productivity of the variety “Sudar” was 7.2 t/ha and the maximum was 8.8 t/ha. In total for 2 cuttings, the alfalfa varieties produced 7.45–8.12 thousand of fodder units, 2.29–2.57 t/ha of raw protein and 1.59–1.78 t/ha of digestible protein. The varieties “Lyutsiya” and “Selyanka” showed a higher yield of nutrients, compared with the standard variety. The nutrient productivity of the studied sainfoin varieties slightly yielded to the alfalfa varieties in the first cutting. On average they produced 3.89–4.55 thousand of fodder units per hectare, 1.34–1.55 t/ha of raw protein and 0.93–1.11 t/ha of digestible protein. In comparison with the standard variety “Zernogradsky 2”, the sainfoin varieties “Veles” and “Sudar” had a greater productivity of nutrients