Effects of Mixed Sowing of Sainfoin and Alfalfa in the Middle and Upper Reaches of the Niyang River on the Grassland Production Performance

Sangdan; Pubu Zhuoma; Yixi Yangzong

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1004-3403.2025.01.001

Abstract：This study investigates the effects of different planting patterns on the production performance of sain-foin and alfalfa using them as test materials in Bahe Town,Gongbu Jiangda County.The results show that there was no significant difference between the two types of forage crops in thephenological period of the first yeaer,and the phenological stages starting from the second year of sainfoin were all 108 to 12 days earlier than those of alfalfa.In the mixed and single sowing patterns,the fresh forage yield of mixed sowing pattern reached 22,529.12 kg/hm2 in the first cut,15172.09 kg/hm2 in the second cut,and 3614.88 kg/hm2 in the third cut.significantly higher than that in the single sowing pattern of alfalfa and sainfoin(P＜0.05).The fresh and dry forage yields of mixed sowing pattern were significantly better than those of the two forage crops sown separately.The fresh forage yield of the mixed sow-ing was 4.7％higher than that of alfalfa sown alone and 1.4％higher than that of sainfoin sown alone.The dry forage yield of the mixed sowing was 6.78％higher than that of alfalfa sown alone and 1.28％higher than that of sainfoin sown alone.By different sowing methods,the crude protein content followed the order:alfalfa sown alone＞mixed sowing＞sainfoin sown alone.The soil organic matter content increased under all three treatments,with increases of 39.26％,41.07％and 49.62％respectively for sainfoin sown alone,alfalfa sown alone,and the mixed sowing com-pared to the control.Among them,the mixed sowing showed the highest increase.The total nitrogen content in-creased by 85.77％and 85.29％respectively.The total phosphorus content decreased in all cases,while the total potas-sium content in the soil increased,with the highest increase observed under mixed sowing.The hydrolyzable nitrogen content increased by 1.6％when alfalfa was sown alone.The available phosphorus content increased by 28.57％and 2.61％respectively when sainfoin was sown alone and under mixed sowing.