Evaluation of Some Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) Germplasm for Yield and Yield Component Traits

FORTY-TWO alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) landraces collected from different regions in Egypt and three commercial varieties were evaluated in this study. The data collected and analyzed were for plant height, number of tillers per m^2, leaf to stem ratio, green forage weight and dry matter weight. The results indicated that plant height, number of tillers per square meter (m-^2), green forage yield, and dry matter weight were higher in the second year than the first year. There was a strong positive correlation between green forage yield with plant height and number of tillers per m2 in addition, between dry forage yield with plant height and number of tillers per m^2. There was also a highly significant positive relationship between green forage yield and dry forage yield. Using cluster analysis all genotypes were divided into two groups. The first group contained varieties Ismailia 1, Siwa and Nubaria, while the second group contained other genotypes collected from different regions. Maximum similarity index was recorded between genotypes (S18 and S09), while minimum similarity was between genotypes (D12 and Siwa).