soil ph and alfalfa cultivation

8/13/2019 soil pH and alfalfa cultivation

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PERROTIS COLLEGE

AMERICAN FARM SCHOOL, THESSALONIKI, GREECE

(Degrees validated b

CARDIFF METROPOLITAN !NI"ERSIT#, !K$

Module title: %IOMETR#Module code:

Module Leader: Dr& At'aasi)s Gertsis

Module instructor: Dr& "asilei)s ")*i+isStudent name: Eseia DeiaModule Level: -Semester: . / Fall 012340125Submission date:

Research Project (100% of final grade-ma !ords"#000$ - ord count: 0657

Title:Correlation between soil pH and plantdevelopment of alfalfa (Medicago sativa L)


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Table of Contents&able of 'ontents)

Summar* +

,ntroduction +

Plant botan* descrition+'ro re.uirements/

So!ing methods deth time and rate

Pests and diseases2arvest3

orld!ide roduction3

4sage5

6arieties10Stud* area 11

Location11

'limate117bjective(s$ 1)

Materials and Methods1)

Results: 1#

Statistical evaluation of roject1+

8iscussions:19

Major 'onclusions: 19

References 1/

endi 1)0

endi ))1

endi #))

endi +)#

endi 9)+

endi /)9

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Summary

Alfalfa is one of the most useful and widely grown hay crops in the world, known from

era of the ancient Greeks and Romans. However, its yields and quality of production are

affected by different factors such as deficiency of one or more crop requirements, outbreak of

diseases or/and pests, place and climate where it is sown. or this pro!ect we chose to analy"e

and find if there is any correlation between soil acidity and plant development. #he e$periment

was conducted on a field from %erpeni, Republic of &oldova. #he soil samples were brought at

the 'errotis (ollege laboratory and analy"ed their acidity. )ata that resulted from our statistical

analysis showed and proved our hypothesis that there is a high correlation between soil pH and

plant development.

Introduction

*itrogen fertili"ation, organic matter decay, leaching, rainfall, and harvest of crops are

the main factors of soil pH declines. &ost favorable pH for plant growth differs with crop species

and with soil physical and chemical properties. +enefits of sustaining appropriate soil pH for

crop production by spreading lime consist of improved * fi$ation by legumes, improved

availability of essential nutrients -e.g., ', &o, and (a, increased percent base saturation, and

reduced solubility of to$ic elements -e.g., Al and &n -(addel, . 0., 1hang, H., and 2ise, 3.

4556.

or this pro!ect we chose alfalfa crop as it is widely adapted and probably the most

popular forage legume for hay and being also used in pasture for gra"ing. (addel and his

coauthors stated in their work that decreased yields, shorten stand life of the crop, and reduced

alfalfa competitiveness against weeds are the effects of low soil pH and nutrient deficiencies in

acid soils. Alfalfa harvested as hay removes larger quantities of nutrients -see the Appendi$ 7,

from soil than most other forage crops and corps harvested for grain -(addel, . 0., 1hang, H.,

and 2ise, 3. 4556.

Plant botany description

Alfalfa generally grows four to eight years8 however it can grow more than 45 years,

depending on variety and climate -Alfalfa 4579. #he plant matures to a height of up to 7 meter,

and has a deep root system of two to four meters, sometimes e$tending more than 7: m -Alfalfa

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4579. #he deep root system makes the plant to

be very resistant, especially to droughts and

frost. Alfalfa is a ;glabrous plant with alternate

trifoliate leaves8 leaflets, 95 mm, narrowly

obovate, toothed in upper third with a mucronate

tip8 stipules linearcrown> at

the top of the root system. #his crown has many

shoot buds that allows alfalfa to regrow many

times after being gra"ed or mowed -Alfalfa 4579.

&oreover, ;crown is the central source of stems

produced after defoliation8 a$illary buds above

ground develop into branches. ?nflorescences are

compact racemes up to 65 mm, borne in a$ils of upper leaves8 purple florets, @ mm, typically

papilionacious. %eed pods spirally coiled,

glabrous or pubescent8 pods turn from green to

brown as they mature, and hold 4


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an old alfalfa field rather than being rotated, or when alfalfa is sown into an e$isting alfalfa plot

to thicken it -+agg . 4557. or that reason, alfalfa fields are suggested to be interchanged with

other species -for e$ample, wheat or corn before reseeding -ennings . 4579. ?n the Appendi$

9 is presented the difference between normal plant and the dwarf plant affected by to$ins.

Crop reuirements

For soil

Alfalfa grows better on well


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because their deficiency affects young tissue growth -+, and reduces the functioning of the

nitrogenase en"yme in the *


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$sage

Alfalfa is very often mowed and harvested as hay, but may also be prepared into silage,

gra"ed, or fed as green chop -(ertified

Alfalfa %eed (ouncil ?nc. 4579. #he

alfalfa field is not recommended to beused as pasture because it may provoke

bloating in livestock -'lantde$ 4579.

Alfalfa is considered ;3ing of

odders= due to its high nutritional value

-see the Appendi$ . ?t is used as food

for high


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-&edline 'lus 4579. ?ndirectly, alfalfa is a source of honey, because bees gather substantial

quantities of nectar from alfalfa flowers.

%arieties

Flder varieties have been used for many decades8 however in the last few years

appeared many better public and private varieties that are better adapted to particular climates

-Rhodes 0. H., Enderwood .. D Henderlong '.R.4579.

&ost varieties go dormant in the fall, this meaning that they have a reduced growth due

to low temperatures and shorter days. >*ondormant> varieties that grow through the winter are

cultivated in long


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Study area

Location As the study area

we chose an alfalfa field

which is situated in the

south part and 75 meters

above sea level in the

village %erpeni, Republic

of &oldova. #he

coordinates of the field are

6C.574@K* and 4.9:7@K

-%tott . 4579. ?t is also

situated appro$imately

7755 meters away from

the )niester River.

Climate

#he climate in the village is the same as the countryLs climate8 the only difference is the

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&b'ective(s)

#he ob!ective of this paper is to find if there is any correlation between soil pH and plant

development of alfalfa. ?t also proposes some treatments if there is any relation between soil

acidity and plant development.

Materials and Met!ods

#he e$periment was conducted on a field of (herno"em soil -soil with lumpy or granular

structure, high natural fertility, intensive and high humification, about 7:M content in the upper

layers of humus with a mean initial pH ranging from :. to C.6

#he field was divided into a grid of

:5$74 meters from where were collected 76

soil samples consisting of 7: cm. %oil

samples were brought at the 'errotis

(ollege laboratory where further analysis

was conducted. %oil samples were oven<

dried at :.:K( and ground to pass a 4


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esults

%oil pH 'lant height in cm

C.9 4:

C.9 46.:

C.9 46.:C.6 4:

C.6 4:

C.4 47

C.9 49

C.9 49

.: 7

.: 7

.@ 45

:. 7C

:. 7C

7C.:#able 7

?n the table above, you can see all the collected data, from the soil analysis and plant

height. ach number represents pH of the soil and the plant height in centimeters. +y careful

observation you can notice that where the pH is higher the plant is higher.

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Statistical evaluation of pro'ect

Bivariate Fit of pH by plant height in cm

Linear FitpH N 9.5C6:9 O 5.7C:5Pplant height in cm

Summary of Fit R%quare 5.5945R%quare Ad! 5.@:76Root &ean %quare rror 5.75CC

&ean of Response .@64@Fbservations -or %um 2gts 76

Analysis of VarianceSource DF Sum of Squares Mean Square F atio&odel 7 6.5C:9: 6.5C:65 777.C:4rror 74 5.69C69 5.5965 !rob " F(. #otal 79 6.:74764 Q.5557P

!arameter #stimates$erm #stimate St% #rror t atio !rob"&t&?ntercept 9.5C6:9 5.97C6@ @.:5 Q.5557Pplant height in cm 5.7C:5 5.57@: 75.:@ Q.5557P

'orrelationVariable Mean St% Dev 'orrelation Signif( !rob )umber plant height in cm 47.664 9.7C77C 5.:59C4 Q.5557P 76pH .@64@ 5.:@764

An important thing is the correlation between soil pH and plant development.

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Discussions

ust having a simple look at the results we easily can observe the variance of plant

height which is affected by the soil pH. Having the same look on the field we can see the

difference that where the soil pH is higher the plants are higher, healthier, having more stems

of a dark green color. Fn the other edge of the field where the soil pH is lower, the plants are

dwarf having few stems of a light green to yellow color.

?n order to have a deep analysis and confirm our hypothesis we run the statistical

analysis on &' 'ro 75 software. #he results showed above confirm our hypothesis that there

is a high correlation between soil pH and plant development. As we can observe, the R %quare

is relatively high and e$presses the 5M of the estimated correlation. Esing the bivariate normal

ellipse of 'N5.5, we found that the plant height and soil pH are highly correlated8 the

correlation being represented by :M.

Major Conclusions:

or this pro!ect we chose to analy"e and find if there is any correlation between soil

acidity and plant development. #he e$periment was conducted on a field from %erpeni, Republic

of &oldova. #he plant we chose is alfalfa, which is one of the most useful and widely grown hay

crops in the world, known from era of the ancient Greeks and Romans. #he soil samples were

brought at the 'errotis (ollege laboratory and analy"ed their acidity. )ata that resulted from our

statistical analysis showed and proved our hypothesis that there is a high correlation between

soil pH and plant development.

#his information might be useful to farmers who observed any difference of plant

development on their fields. As recommendation, we propose to analy"e the field and the spot

where the pH is low should be applied amendments such as liming, because the lime can

correct the acidity.

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eferences

7. Alfalfa 4579, Britannica Online Encyclopedia, +ritanica.com, Retrieved *ovember 5@, 4579,

ER0 Q http//www.britannica.com/+checked/topic/76::/alfalfa

4. +agg . 4557, Alala Autoto!icity" &inistry of Agriculture and ood, Fntario, Retrieved

)ecember 59, 4579, ER0 Q http//www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/crops/field/autoto$.htm

3. (addel, . 0., 1hang, H., and 2ise, 3. 4556, Responses o alala" red clover" and #hite clover

to soil pH and lime treatments" orage and Gra"inglands, )ata viewed Fctober 4, 4579, ER0

Q http//www.plantmanagementnetwork.org/pub/fg/research/4556/treat/

4. (alifornia Alfalfa 4579, Premium $uality Alala, Hay E%A ?nc., #e$as, E%A* Retrieved

*ovember 5@, 4579, ER0 Qhttp//www.hayusa.net/alfalfa.html

5. (ash ). D Iuegao H. 455, Alala %anagement &uide or 'ing!ia" (nited 'ations Food and

Agriculture Organization" Retrieved *ovember 5@, 4579, ER0

Qhttp//www.fao.org/ag/agp/AG'(/doc/ning$iaSguide/chapter7.pdf

6. (ash )., )itterline R. D )unn R. 79, Alala )ariety *election, &ontana %tate Eniversity

$tension, Retrieved *ovember 59, 4579, ER0

Qhttp//msue$tension.org/publications/Agand*aturalResources/959AG.pdf

7. (ertified Alfalfa %eed (ouncil ?nc. 4579, Alala in the %outh, 2est Jirginia Eniversity, Retrieved

*ovember 5@, 4579, ER0 Qhttp//www.caf.wvu.edu/Tforage/library/forglvst/bulletins/salfalfa.pdf

8. )i$on '. et. all. 455:, Establishing a *uccessul Alala +rop, &ontana %tate Eniversity

$tension, Retrieved *ovember 5@, 4579, ER0

Qhttp//msue$tension.org/publications/Agand*aturalResources/Ǉ:56AG.pdf

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http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/14595/alfalfahttp://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/14595/alfalfahttp://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/crops/field/autotox.htmhttp://www.plantmanagementnetwork.org/pub/fg/research/2004/treat/http://www.plantmanagementnetwork.org/pub/fg/research/2004/treat/http://www.hayusa.net/alfalfa.htmlhttp://www.fao.org/ag/agp/AGPC/doc/ningxia_guide/chapter1.pdfhttp://msuextension.org/publications/AgandNaturalResources/MT199303AG.pdfhttp://www.caf.wvu.edu/~forage/library/forglvst/bulletins/salfalfa.pdfhttp://msuextension.org/publications/AgandNaturalResources/MT200504AG.pdfhttp://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/14595/alfalfahttp://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/crops/field/autotox.htmhttp://www.plantmanagementnetwork.org/pub/fg/research/2004/treat/http://www.hayusa.net/alfalfa.htmlhttp://www.fao.org/ag/agp/AGPC/doc/ningxia_guide/chapter1.pdfhttp://msuextension.org/publications/AgandNaturalResources/MT199303AG.pdfhttp://www.caf.wvu.edu/~forage/library/forglvst/bulletins/salfalfa.pdfhttp://msuextension.org/publications/AgandNaturalResources/MT200504AG.pdf


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. rame . 4579, %edicago sativa ,-" AF, Retrieved )ecember 59, 4579, ER0

Qhttp//www.fao.org/ag/agp/AG'(/doc/gbase/data/pf55596.htm

10.Heu"e J. et. all. 4579, Alfalfa -&edicago sativa, eedipedia.org, ?*RA, (?RA), A1 and AF,Retrieved *ovember 5:, 4579, ER0 Q http//www.feedipedia.org/node/4C:

77. Husman %.H. 4579, &ro#ing Alala or *eed in Arizona" Eniversity of Ari"ona (ollege of

Agriculture, Retrieved *ovember 5@, 4579, ER0 Qhttp//ag.ari"ona.edu/pubs/crops/a"774.pdf

12. ennings . 4579, Alala or Dairy +attle" Eniversity of Arkansas, )ivision of Agriculture,

Retrieved *ovember 5@, 4579, ER0 Qhttp//www.uae$.edu/FtherSAreas/publications/')/%A<

6555.pdf

79. ennings . 4579, (nderstanding Autoto!icity in Alala" Eniversity of Arkansas (ooperative

$tension %ervice, Retrieved *ovember 5@, 4579, ER0

Qhttp//www.uwe$.edu/ces/forage/wfc/proceedings4557/understandingSautoto$icitySinSalfalfa.ht

m

14. 0issbrant %. et. all. 4579, Phosphorus and Potassium Fertilization o Alala, 'urdue Eniversity,

Retrieved *ovember 5@, 4579, ER0 Q http//www.e$tension.purdue.edu/e$tmedia/AI/AI


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19. 'lantde$ 4579, Alala .%edicago sativa/, Retrieved *ovember 5@, 4579, ER0

Qhttp//www.plantde$.com/inde$.php/species


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4C. 2orld 2eather and (limate ?nformation 4579, Average #eather and climate in %oldova"

Retrieved *ovember 5@, 4579, ER0 Qhttp//www.weather


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*ppendi+ ,

3ilograms of nutrient removed per ton of alfalfa produced, dry matter basis

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*ppendi+ -

'lant development within 95 days

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*ppendi+ .

ffect of autoto$icity on root development of alfalfa

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*ppendi+ /

!rincipal %iseases of alfalfa an% causal agentsDisease Agent

+acterial leaf spot 6anthomonas alala

(ommon leaf spot Pseudopeziza medicaginis

Iellow leaf blotch ,eptotrochila medicaginis

*temphylium *temphylium botryosum

,eptosphaerulina leaf spot ,eptosphaerulina briosianna5triolii

)owny mildew Peronospora trioliorum

%pring black stem Phoma medicaginis var. medicaginis

Alternaria Alternaria solani

+acterial stem blight Pseudomonas medicaginis or syringae

*tagonospora leaf spot *tagonospora meliloti

Rust (romyces striatus

%ummer black stem +ercospora medicaginis%pring black stem Phoma medicaginis

Fusarium wilt Fusarium o!ysporum

)erticillium wilt )erticillium albo3atrum

+acterial wilt +lavibacter michiganense subsp-insidiosum

*clerotinia crown and stem rot *clerotinia trioliorum

Rhi"octonia Rhizoctonia solani

Phytophthora root rot Phytophthora megasperma

Anthracnose +olletotrichum triolii

Fusarium root rot Fusarium spp-

Aphanomyces root rot Aphanomyces euteiches

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*ppendi+ 0

Alfalfa pestsFoliage

Alfalfa weevils -larvae Hypera spp.

(aterpillars +olias eurythene

(utworms/army worms Eu!oa au!iliaris

+lister beetles Epicauta spp.

Aphids

%potted alfalfa Therioaphis maculata5triolii

'ea Acyrthosiphon pisum

+lue alfalfa Acyrthosiphon 7ondoi

(lover weevils *itona spp.

Grasshoppers %elanophus spp.

0eafhoppers Agromyza rontella

'otato leafhoppers Empoacea abae%pittlebugs -e.g. meadow Philaenus spumarius

Roots/crowns

*ematodes

Root knot %eloidogyne hapla

Root lesion Pratylenchus penetrans

Alfalfa stem Ditylenchus dipsaci

(lover


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*ppendi+ 1

Alfalfa see%s* sproute%* raw

)utritional value per -.. g /0(1 o23

nergy k -49 kcal(arbohydrates 4.7 g

< )ietary fiber 7. g

at 5.C g

'rotein 6 g

#hiamine -vit. +7 5.5C mg -CM

Riboflavin -vit. +4 5.74 mg -77M

*iacin -vit. +9 5.6@7 mg -9M

'antothenic acid -+: 5.:9 mg -77M

Jitamin + 5.596 mg -9M

olate -vit. + 9 Vg -MJitamin ( @.4 mg -75M

Jitamin 3 95.: Vg -4M

(alcium 94 mg -9M

?ron 5. mg -CM

&agnesium 4C mg -@M

&anganese 5.7@@ mg -M

'hosphorus C5 mg -75M

'otassium C mg -4M

%odium mg -5M

1inc 5.4 mg -75M

0ink to E%)A )atabase entry'ercentages are roughly appro$imated

using E% recommendations for adults.

%ource E%)A *utrient )atabase

P 0. f 0.
http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/search/list?qlookup=11001&format=Fullhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dietary_Reference_Intakehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dietary_Reference_Intakehttp://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/search/listhttp://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/search/listhttp://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/search/list?qlookup=11001&format=Fullhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dietary_Reference_Intakehttp://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/search/list

soil ph and alfalfa cultivation

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