Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) growth response to water and temperature

Summary

Four cultivars of alfalfa (Medicago sativa L cv. Vangard, Cody, Zia, and Dawson) were grown under a gradient irrigation system on a Pullman clay loam soil (fine, mixed, thermic, Torrertic Paleustoll) at Bushland, Texas. Twelve harvests were taken during 1983, 1984 and 1985 over a wide range of irrigation levels. Alfalfa was harvested at 10% bloom and subsamples were oven dried and ashed. Irrigation water and rainfall were determined by catchment collections and soil moisture content was determined with a neutron soil moisture probe. Potential evaporation was determined by pan evaporation and by modified Penman, Priestley and Taylor, and Jensen and Haise prediction equations from climatic data. No varietal differences in the relationship of yield to water or water use efficiency occurred. Yield within each harvest correlated well with evapotranspiration (ET). The regression of yield with ET over all twelve harvests had a low coefficient of determination. Relative yield had a high correlation with relative ET when maximum ET was measured but the correlation was lower when maximum ET was calculated from a prediction equation or pan evaporation. The correlation increased when the maximum yield for each harvest was used rather than a constant value. Including a high temperature factor in the equation greatly improved the correlation between yield and ET but the correlation was not as high as when relative yield was correlated with relative measured ET. Water use efficiency was highest with the highest yields.