Dry matter yield and nutritive quality of alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) cultivars grown in sub-humid areas in Ethiopia

Figures & data

Table 1. Analysis of variance for cultivar, year, and their interaction for days to 50% flowering, leaf to stem ratio, plant height, dry matter yield, and crude protein yield

Source of variation	DF	Parameters
		D50%Fl	LSR	PH	DMY	CPY
Cultivar	3	218.8**	0.03ns	20.8ns	5.8**	0.13**
Year	1	155**	0.01ns	7.2ns	0.7ns	0.02ns
Interaction	3	16.1ns	0.5ns	1.2ns	6.3**	0.15**

DF = Degrees of freedom; D50% Fl = days to 50% of flowering; LSR = leaf to stem ratio; PH = plant height in cm; DMY = dry matter yield in ton/hectare; CPY = crude protein yield ton/hectare; ** = significant difference at P < 0.01; ns = non-significant at P > 0.05.

Figure 1. The percent plot cover at four weeks (PCFW), and the plot cover at eight weeks (PCEW) of four alfalfa cultivars.

Table 2. Mean values of days to 50% flowering and leaf to stem ratio of four alfalfa cultivars evaluated during 2016 and 2017 years

Cultivars	Days to 50% flowering			Leaf to stem ratio
	2016	2017	Mean	2016	2017	Mean
Magna 788	108.0^bc	116.3^ab	112.2^b	0.7	0.8	0.7
Hunter River	106.0^c	107.0^b	106.5^b	0.8	0.7	0.7
Pioneer 00407	111.3^b	115.3^ab	113.3^b	0.7	0.7	0.7
Hairy Peruvian	117.7^a	124.7^a	121.2^a	0.8	0.9	0.9
Mean	110.8^b	115.8^a	113.3	0.74	0.8	0.8
CV (%)	24.5	4.2	4.2	24.5	23	22.1
Sig. level	*	**	**	Ns	Ns	Ns

Means within a column followed by different supper-script letters are significantly different (P < 0.05) CV = coefficient of variation; * = significant difference at P < 0.05** = significant difference at P < 0.01; Ns = non-significant

Table 3. Mean of plant height (PH) at harvest of four alfalfa cultivars evaluated during 2016 and 2017 years at Masha highland

Cultivars	2016			2017				Overall
	PH1	PH2	Mean	PH1	PH2	PH3	Mean
Magna 788	69.2	75.3	72.2	71.2	79.4	66.7	72.4	72.3
Hunter River	67.5	70.2	68.8	70.3	73	65	69.4	69.2
Pioneer 00407	64.2	69.4	66.8	68.5	74	64.7	69.1	67.9
Hairy Peruvian	66.4	72.4	69.4	68.8	74.5	69	70.8	70.1
Mean	66.8	71.8	69.3	69.7	75.2	66.3	70.4	69.9
CV (%)	12.7	11.5	11.4	11.1	7.5	3.2	5.8	8.6
Sig. level	Ns	Ns	Ns	Ns	Ns	Ns	Ns	Ns

PH1, PH2 & PH3 (cm) = plant height in cm at harvest 1, 2 & 3; CV = coefficient of variation; Ns = non-significant

Table 4. Dry matter yield of four alfalfa cultivars during 2016 and 2017 years at Masha highland

	2016			2017				Total
	DMY1	DMY2	Sub-total	DMY1	DMY2	DMY3	Sub-total
Magna 788	2.4^b	3.0^b	5.4^b	2.0	2.7	1.4	6.1	11.5^b
Hunter River	2.0^b	2.5^b	4.5^b	1.8	2.4	1.7	5.9	10.5^b
Pioneer 00407	2.9^b	3.2^b	6.1^b	2.3	2.0	1.5	5.8	12.1^b
Hairy Peruvian	4.5^a	4.7^a	9.2^a	2.2	2.0	1.7	5.9	15.0^a
Mean	2.9	3.4	6.3	2.1	2.3	1.2	5.9	12.3
CV (%)	15.8	18.4	16.2	15.5	16.9	14.8	13.2	10.0
Sig. level	**	*	**	Ns	Ns	Ns	Ns	**

Means within a column followed by different supper-script letters are significantly different (P < 0.05) DMY1, DMY2 &DMY3 (cm) = dry matter yield at harvest 1, 2 & 3, respectively; CV = coefficient of variation; * = significant difference at P < 0.05** = significant difference at P < 0.01; Ns = non-significant

Table 5. Crude protein yield of four alfalfa cultivars during 2016 and 2017 years at Masha highland

Cultivars	Crude protein yield (CPY t/ha)
	2016	2017	Total
Magna 788	0.85^b	0.96	0.91^b
Hunter River	0.71^b	0.92	0.81^b
Pioneer 00407	0.97^b	0.93	0.95^b
Hairy Peruvian	1.41^a	0.91	1.16^a
Mean	0.99	0.93	0.96
CV (%)	15.2	12.3	15.2
Sig. level	**	Ns	**

Means within a column followed by different supper-script letters are significantly different (P < 0.05) CV = coefficient of variation; ** = significant difference at P < 0.01; Ns = non-significant

Table 6. The chemical composition of alfalfa cultivars grown at Masha highland

Variety	Chemical composition (%)
	DM	Ash	CP	NDF	ADF	ADL
Magna 788	91.8	7.4	15.9	44.8	30.9	6.7
Hunter River	92.7	7.5	15.5	44.5	30.3	6.4
Pioneer 00407	92.3	7.3	15.8	44.3	30.6	6.4
Hairy Peruvian	92.7	7.5	15.4	44.5	30.2	6.3
Mean	92.3	7.4	15.7	44.5	30.5	6.5
CV (%)	0.5	2.9	3.8	1.7	1.7	7.2
Sig. level	Ns	Ns	Ns	Ns	Ns	Ns

DM = dry matter, CP = crude protein, NDF = Neutral detergent fiber, ADF = acid detergent fiber, ADL = Acid detergent fiber, CV = coefficient of variation; Ns = non-significant

Data availability statement

The data set used /analyzed during the current study is available from the corresponding author on reasonable request. www.linkedin.com/in/gezahegn-mengistu-ab9492155