Abstract

Cultivated alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) is an important forage legume, grown for hay in Turkey. There is need to increase the area of forage under cultivation in Turkey and to exploit all available germplasm for increased animal production. Alfalfa can be harvested for 4 to 5 years before the stand deteriorates. The study reports a recurrent selection from 160 plants collected from seven provinces of the Central Anatolia, with aim to breed superior cultivar resistant to dry conditions. Evaluation of  yield and yield components showed that newly developed  cultivar  averaged 11% more yield; which was significantly higher (p<0.05) compared to the best cultivar currently used in central Anatolia.

Key words: Medicago sativa L., Kayseri alfalfa, stem number per plant, floret number per raceme, pod set, spiral number per pod, thousand seed weight.