Vegetative growth and characteristic of Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) in the first and second generation with different light intensity

This study aimed to measure the effect of light intensity on the vegetative growth of the first and second generation of alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.). Completely randomized design nested patterns was used in this research with two different light intensities and 2 different generations of the alfalfa. The alfalfa used was 2-year-old at 14th regrowth stage which was already planted in a glass dome at Forage and Pasture Laboratory. Light intensity was distinguished by using shade (shading net 65) and without shade. Plants watering was done once a day in the afternoon, and monitoring was done every week, starting at the 1st week after defoliation until the plant age of 4 weeks. The variables observed were vegetative growth (plant height, plant length, number of branches, and number of leaves), productivity (biomass production), and nutrient content (dry matter content, organic matter, crude fat, crude fiber, and crude protein). The results of this study showed that light intensity had a significant effect (P <0.05) on all of the alfalfa vegetative growth parameters and productions of fresh alfalfa, whereas differences of alfalfa generation did not have significant effect (P> 0.05). The research results can be concluded that 100 light intensity resulted in higher vegetative growth and fresh production performance than 35 light intensity, while the first and second generations had relatively the same vegetative growth performance. The second generation produces higher fresh production than the first generation. © 2025, Southern Cross Publishing. All rights reserved.