Animal Husbandry and Feed Science ›› 2021, Vol. 42 ›› Issue (2): 72-79.doi: 10.12160/j.issn.1672-5190.2021.02.014

• Animal Husbandry Resource and Environment • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Effect of Combinative Application of Organic Fertilizer and Chemical Fertilizer on Yield and Nutritional Quality of Alfalfa

BAI Lin1, CHENG Li-xin2, LI Yun-hua2, Fengying2, YUE Lin-fang2, CHANG Jing1, Baohua2, WANG Zhi-ming2, YU Zhao-hui2, LI Jing-shu2   

  1. 1. College of Horticulture and Plant Protection,Inner Mongolia Agricultural University,Hohhot 010019,China;
    2. Inner Mongolia Academy of Agricultural and Animal Husbandry Sciences,Hohhot 010031,China
  • Received:2021-01-10 Online:2021-03-30 Published:2021-04-16

Abstract: [Objective] To determine the optimal fertilization scheme for alfalfa cultivation and to improve its production performance and nutritional quality. [Method] The alfalfa variety of Medicago sativa L. cv. Zhongmu No. 2 was used as experimental material, chemical fertilizer and different kinds of organic fertilizer (farmmade organic fertilizer, vermicompost fertilizer, commercial organic fertilizer) were used as experimental fertilizer. A total of fourteen treatments were included: 1-4 treatments received single application of chemical fertilizer or different kinds of organic fertilizer, 5-7 treatments received combinative application of 1/2 chemical fertilizer and 1/2 different kinds of organic fertilizer, 8-10 treatments received combinative application of 1/2 chemical fertilizer and different kinds of organic fertilizer, 11-13 treatments received combinative application of 1/2 chemical fertilizer and 2 times different organic fertilizer. No fertilizer was used for the control treatment (CK). There were 3 replicates (plots) for each treatment, and a total of 42 plots were included. The growth and nutritional quality of alfalfa of three cutting times were measured and compared under different fertilization treatments. [Result] Under three cutting times, compared with CK, different fertilization treatments (1-13) significantly (P<0.05) improved the hay yield, plant height, soluble sugar content, total chlorophyll content and crude protein content of alfalfa, and significantly (P<0.05) reduced the neutral detergent fiber content and acid detergent fiber content. Except that the treatment 4 in the first cutting did not reach the significant level, the relative feeding value of alfalfa of different fertilization treatments was all significantly (P<0.05) higher than that of CK. In the first cutting, the improvement effect of 1/2 chemical fertilizer + farmmade organic fertilizer (treatment 8) on growth and nutritional quality of alfalfa was only second to that of chemical fertilizer (treatment 1). In the second cutting, treatment 8 had the best improvement effect on growth and nutritional quality of alfalfa. The hay yield, plant height, soluble sugar content, total chlorophyll content, crude protein content and relative feed value of treatment 8 were significantly (P<0.05) higher than those of the other treatments, and the neutral detergent fiber content and acid detergent fiber content of treatment 8 were significantly (P<0.05) lower than those of the other treatments. [Conclusion] Taking the improvement effects of different fertilization ratios on middle- and late-stage growth and nutritional quality of alfalfa as well as chemical fertilizer application reduction into consideration, 1/2 fertilizer + homemade organic fertilizer is recommended as the optimal fertilization scheme.

Key words: chemical fertilizer, organic fertilizer, alfalfa, yield, quality

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