D. PETKOVA and G. PANAYOTOVA
Institute of Agriculture and Seed Science "Obraztsov Chiflik", BG - 7007 Rousse, Bulgaria
PETKOVA, D. and G. PANAYOTOVA, 2007. Comparative study of trifoliolate and multifoliolate alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) synthetic populations. Bulg. J. Agric. Sci., 13: 221-224
Forage productivity and quality of alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) are the most important traits. The objective of that study was the productivity and crude protein content of some trifoliolate and multifoliolate alfalfa synthetic populations to be compared. Evaluation trail was grown during 2002-2005 period at the Institute of Agriculture and Seed Science "Obraztsov Chiflik" - Rousse. The experimental design was a randomised complete block in four replications. 15 synthetic populations, 4-multifoliolate and 11-trifoliolate were tested for forage productivity, regrowth height, regrowth rate, leaf/stem ratio and crude protein content in dry matter. The highest forage productivity was found in trifoliolate synthetic population Syn1 N 98 2 (110.4 %) and multifoliolate Syn1 4782 (106.7 %). The first one had higher regrowth rate than the others. Syn1 Ax-95 population with yield being lower than the standard had the best leaf/stem ratio and the highest crude protein content.