Abstract            Volume:13  Issue-12  Year-2025         Original Research Articles

Online ISSN : 2347 - 3215 Issues : 12 per year Publisher : Excellent Publishers Email : editorijcret@gmail.com

The study was conducted at midland agro-ecologies of Gechi and Chora districts in Buno Bedele Zone to evaluate and select the best adaptable and high yielder of Alfalfa cultivars during 2021-2023 in the main cropping season.  Six alfalfa cultivars; Hunter -River, Magna-801, Pioneer (1995), FLL-77, Hairy Peruvian, and FG-9-09 were assessed using a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. The combined mean values revealed significant differences (p<0.05) among the tested alfalfa cultivars for plot cover percentage, stand and vigor percentage, dry matter yield, plant height, leaf to stem ratio, maturity date, disease incidence, and seed yield. Magna-801 cultivar displayed the highest herbage dry matter yield (7.17 t/ha), followed by FLL-77 (6.72 t/ha) and Hairy Peruvian (6.32 t/ha) cultivars. Regarding seed yield, FLL-77 cultivar also performed significantly better, producing the 2.17 qt/ha, compared to the lower yield recorded for Pioneer (1995) cultivar (1.37 qt/ha). The Leaf-stem-ratio were significantly (p<0.001) higher for Magna-801(1.62), followed by FLL-77(1.34) and Hairy Peruvian (1.12) cultivars, while FG-9-09 showed the lowest leaf to stem ratio. Furthermore, differences in disease resistance were evident, with Pioneer (1995) and Hunter-river cultivars demonstrating high susceptibility to disease relative to the others. Generally, Magna-801, FLL-77 and Hairy Peruvian cultivars were identified as the superior cultivars across in most the evaluated parameter; plot cover percentage, vigor percentage, herbage dry matter yield, plant height, leaf to stem ratio, and seed yield. Hence, these cultivars are recommended for future demonstration in in the tested environments and other areas in similar agro-ecologies.

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