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Flor Alfalfa Plant
(Bee Alfalfa
leaf cutter)
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Plant highly nutritious legume used as fodder for livestock
Definition - Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.)
Plant is a showy, beautiful and attractive when in flower, belonging to the pea family Fabaceae, or legumes, but is fit for human consumption is alfalfa mainly cultivated as an important fodder for animals, especially cattle and horses in general. In the United Kingdom, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand is also known as alfalfa and alfalfa and grass in South Asia. India is known as in Chara, and in Gujarat and Rajka or GAD. It resembles clover by clusters of small purple flowers similar to the plant.
If weather conditions are benign or best, plus a relatively fertile substrate then hydrated Alfalfa plant can grow to more than 1 meter tall, its flowers are clustered in groups composed of clusters or integrated into a center which axillary petals emit intense blue or violet blue.
Ecology of the Alfalfa
Alfalfa is a legume very strong climatic changes especially to cold, with high plant perenneque can live more than twenty years, depending on the variety of substrate conditions, weather and other factors important to their growth and development, but actually is a plant very demanding and very tough. The plant grows to a height of up to 1 meter (3 feet) or more as mentioned earlier, and has a deep, intricate root system sometimes stretching over 15 meters (49 feet) underground. This makes it very tough, especially to drought. It has a tetraploid genome.
Autotoxicity This plant, which means it is difficult for alfalfa seed to grow in the stands or residues of previous crops of alfalfa or existing. Therefore, it is recommended that alfalfa fields be rotated, rotate, alternate or exchanged with other species (eg, corn or wheat) before reseeding. To get better results in the future or future crops Alfalfa.
Alfalfa Culture
Alfalfa is widely grown throughout the world as forage for cattle, and is most often harvested as hay, but can also be done in grass silage. Alfalfa has the highest value of the power of all common hay crops are used less often than grasses. When grown in soil where it is well adapted, alfalfa and forage plant is the highest performance.
The main use of alfalfa as feed for dairy cattle, due to its high protein and high fiber digestibility, and second place for cattle, horses, sheep and goats. Humans also eat alfalfa sprouts in salads and sandwiches. Dehydrated alfalfa leaf is marketed as a dietary supplement in several forms such as tablets, powders and tea. Alfalfa is considered by some as a galactagogue, a substance that induces lactation.
Like other legumes, root nodules of alfalfa contain bacteria, Sinorhizobium meliloti, with the ability to fix nitrogen, producing a high-protein feed regardless of available nitrogen in the soil. Its nitrogen-fixing abilities (which increases soil nitrogen) and their use as animal feed greatly improved agricultural efficiency.
Alfalfa can be sown in spring or autumn, and created the best in well drained soils with a neutral pH of 6.8-7.5. Alfalfa requires sustained and consistent levels of potassium and phosphorus to grow well or adequately. Is moderately sensitive to salt levels in soil and irrigation water, although still cultivated in the arid Southwest United States, where salinity is an emerging issue. The soils of low fertility should be fertilized with manure or chemical fertilizer, but correction of pH is very important. Generally, a density of 13 to 20 kg / ha (12 to 25 lb / acre) is recommended, with differences based on region, soil type and planting method. A nurse or care of the harvest with fertilizers and cleaning is sometimes used, particularly for spring plantings, to reduce weed problems and soil erosion, but can lead to competition for light, water and nutrients.
In most of the world's climates, alfalfa is cut three to four times a year but is harvested up to 12 times a year in Arizona and southern California. Total yields are typically around 8 tons per hectare (4 tons per acre) but yields have been recorded up to 20 tonnes per hectare (16 short tons per acre). Performance may vary with region, climate and crop stage of maturity when cut.
Alfalfa is considered an insectary, due to the large amount of insects it attracts. Some pests such as alfalfa weevil, aphids, armyworms, and potato leafhopper can reduce alfalfa yields dramatically, particularly in the second cut when the weather is warmer. Chemical controls are sometimes used to avoid this but does not always work or can poison the ground or floor, recommended natural alternatives for pest control. Alfalfa is also susceptible to root rot as: Phytophthora, Rhizoctoniay Texas.
Harvesting of Alfalfa
When alfalfa is to be used as hay is usually cut and packed. Loose haystacks are still used in some areas, but the bullets or packages are easier to transport, storage and feeding. Ideally, the first cut should be at the stage of the outbreak and subsequent cuts as in the field should do when you are starting to bloom. When using farm equipment rather than hand picking, a swath cut alfalfa and organized in rows. In areas where alfalfa is not dried immediately on their own, a machine known as a mower conditioner, is used to cut the straw. The mower conditioner has a set of rollers or flails to enshrine and break the stems as they pass through the mower, so the alfalfa dries faster. After the alfalfa has dried, a tractor pulling a hay press picks up the bales.
There are several types of bullets commonly used for alfalfa. For small animals and individual horses, alfalfa is packed into two small balls or bundles of wires commonly called chain of string used to wrap the bundle smaller in two strings, three strings, and so on until half bullets, 6 ton of strings "square."
Bales or packages actually rectangular, and usually about 40 x 45 x 100 cm (14 "x 18" x 38). Small square bales, weighing 25-30 kg (50-70 pounds) depending on moisture and can be easily separated by hand into "flakes." Ranches used throughout the big bundle, typically 1.4 to 1.8 m (4 to 6 feet) in diameter and weighing 500 to 1,000 kg (1000 to 2000 lbs.) These bullets can be placed in the pile feeders or large herds of horses, or unrolled on the ground of large herds of cattle.
Alfalfa bales can be loaded and stacked with a tractor with a spike, known as a bale spear, which runs through the center thereof. Or they can be managed with a claw (nail) on the tractor front end loader. A recent innovation is the square bales, more or less the same proportions as the small squares, but a bit larger. The size of the bullet was created so that the batteries would fit perfectly in a large truck. These are most common in the western United States.
When used as feed for dairy cattle, alfalfa, is often a process known hay and silage. Instead of drying to dry there are, alfalfa is finely chopped and fermented in silos, pits, or pockets, wherever the oxygen supply may be limited to promote fermentation. Anaerobic fermentation of alfalfa allows you to maintain high nutrient levels similar to those of fresh forage, and is also more palatable to dairy cattle to dry hay. In many cases, alfalfa silage inoculated with different strains of microorganisms to improve the quality of fermentation and aerobic stability of it.
World Alfalfa Production
Alfalfa is the most widely grown legume in the world. World production was about 436 million tons in 2006. U.S. is the largest alfalfa producer in the world, but a considerable area is found in Argentina (mainly grazing), Australia, South Africa and the Middle East.
Within the United States, the major producers of alfalfa are California, South Dakota and Wisconsin. The upper Midwestern states account for about 50% of U.S. production, the U.S. Northeast 10%, western states 40%, and almost none southeastern states. Alfalfa has a wide range of adaptation and can be grown from very cold northern plains to high mountain valleys, rivers agricultural regions to temperate and Mediterranean climates scorching hot desert.
Alfalfa Production and Bees
World production of alfalfa, seeds requires the presence of bone pollinating bees fly, these on alfalfa fields and pollinate their flowers.
Pollination of flower fields of alfalfa fields with bees is not an easy task because they are usually leaves the pollen off the flower in their leaves or other party and not necessarily in the flower for its nectar is not attractive to them and it is common for this reason the bees decide to take other roads running along the ground as are the enramaje leaf stems of the same and even other plants before coming to Florida to leave their precious pollen so it is very difficult to pollination in this way, why alfalfa growers often use specialized or typical Western bees. That is really capable bees pollinate alfalfa flowers which the bees need to visit the flower and drink the nectar but for that to happen to the bees must attract the nectar of these flowers, and indeed it is with specialized Western bees and the scent of the nectar from the flowers of alfalfa it is extremely attractive, because of its peculiar aroma and flavorful on the palate stimulating these demanding insects.
Today, the leaf-cutting bee alfalfa is increasingly used to circumvent this bee species problema.Como gregarious or sociable, but solo version, which does not build colonies or store honey comb, but it is a very Efficient pollination of alfalfa flowers. The alfalfa seed producers specialized artificial panels provided to leafcutter bees to ensure that they stay in the alfalfa, it is clear that to achieve its goal of alfalfa growers must build specialized in plastic or wood panels preferably the latter to be more appealing to bees, with multiple cameras to make this a home more appealing to the honey. leafcutter bees are used in the Pacific Northwest, while Western bees dominate the production of alfalfa seed in California.
A smaller amount of alfalfa seed is produced for pollinating bees Through alkaline, especially in the northwestern United States. Bees are cultivated or forcibly forced to play special artificial beds designated for such purpose in the fields of alfalfa. HOWEVER these bees have their own problems because they are not portable like honey bee, as well as the alfalfa fields are new to them takes a long time to accumulate in these kind of diapers beds or artificial, ie the population growth in the fields of Alfalfa is slow and gradual even more if these fields are new specifically for this type of bees mielíferas.
Therefore it is not surprising that even today, farmers in the vast fields of alfalfa in the United States and even from other regions and countries around the world carried or transported temporarily to their fields of alfalfa in trucks or specialized vehicles panels of honey bee at the time of flowering alfalfa plants, it is at this time when the flowers issued its strongest aroma making them irresistible to honey bee pollination and taking care and thousands of flowers, to carry on their antennae, legs, abdomen pollen or seed head.
Varieties of Alfalfa Plants
Much research and development has made this important plant. Older varieties such as alfalfa spring ", have been the norm for many years, but many species and / or public and private varieties are now available and better suited to certain climates. Private enterprises create many new varieties each year in the U.S.. and also other international companies, whether private or state major advance toward scientific studies to obtain varieties resistant to pests as the alfalfa plant is very resistant to pests and therefore millions of dollars are lost every year in crops alfalfa because of the different insect pests that prey on alfalfa.
It is therefore not surprising that governments, public, private or state, dedicated not only financial resources but also investment in scientific research and technology that allows the maximization of the processes of cultivation and production of valuable plant alfalfa, it is already widely known by the scientific community its great nutritional properties, besides being a plant resistant to climate change, making it a good choice for mass culture and allow satisfy the growing and not fully satisfied, demand food, especially in underdeveloped countries where deficiency of resources and / or by soil or nutrient-poor substrates and climates is difficult to cultivate wild food plants. In this case the alfalfa is an excellent crop sector, regional, municipal, state, continental and even international scale at a reasonable cost and even quite cheap, when compared with other similar nutritional value foods but which are very costly large-scale produce even though their costs are lower still high, since in some cases tend to be slightly adapted plants, slow growth, demanding in cultivation, some seasonal etc. ... Which in the long ecarece cultivation even when a large scale.
Most alfalfa varieties dormant in the fall, with growth slowing in response to low temperatures and shorter days. not inactivate the varieties that grow during the winter are planted in environments experienced long as Mexico, Arizona and southern California, whereas 'dormant' varieties are planted in the Midwest, Canada and the northeastern Superior. 'Non-dormant' varieties may be more performance, but are susceptible to winter-kill in cold climates, and have poorer persistence.
Most varieties of alfalfa plants are dormant in the fall, with a decrease in growth due to low temperatures and shorter days with less sun exposure and therefore a reduction in overall metabolism. In winter some alfalfa varieties are almost inactive but that does not mean they are not dead, like many animals go into a sort of hibernation state in which substantially reduces his duties and it seems they were stunted or even killed but in fact minimizing their functions are vital to save energy, yet they have a huge advantage over other plant species and most varieties of alfalfa, have not only an intricate network of roots, but these grow deep in the ground substrate, which allows the plant to access nutrients and water deposits trapped in the depths of the earth, making this feature adaptability and weather resistance, but not resistance to insect pests underground.
Yet its large and profuse roots allow you to have at your disposal a kind of continuous and varied nutrient supply and multiple power options subterranean.
Alfalfa variety suitable for cultivation in desert areas, arid or sandy
Most alfalfa cultivars contain genetic material from Sickle Medick (M. falcata), a wild variety of alfalfa which naturally hybridizes with M. sativa to produce Sand Lucerne (M. sativa ssp. variation). This species can have any of the purple flowers of alfalfa or yellow Sickle Medick, and is named for its ready growth in sandy soil.
Improvements in Alfalfa
Most of the improvements in alfalfa over the past decades have included the resistance to disease by improving poorly drained soils in wet years, improved ability to overwinter in cold climates, and production of more leaves. Multileaf alfalfa varieties having more than three leaflets per leaf, with higher nutritional content by weight because there is more matter of leaves in the same amount of stem cells, thus making them a kind of superfood.
The working depth study of Alfalfa in California call: (UC Davis) has an announcement date each year depending on the different varieties of alfalfa, both by location and variety, strength, progress and/or decreases in the crop alfalfa plant, also in those ads are known annual data by geographical location and agronomic progress reports of the plant annually.
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