Effects of cultivation and preservation on the ingredients of alfalfa using an indirect drying process and optimization of the CO2 footprint

The aim of the HEILU project is to produce a high-performance forage from alfalfa or legume-grass mixtures under practical conditions by redesigning the cultivation methods, harvesting strategy and conservation. A dense crop plays a major role in alfalfa to enable a high cutting intensity with a high crude protein yield. The drying of alfalfa should be as gentle and climate neutral as possible. A guideline is being drawn up for fodder production that describes the process from cultivation to harvesting to drying with the lowest possible carbon footprint and provides recommendations for practice.
The field trial at ZALF in Muencheberg is set up with 192 plots. The trial is divided into the following test factors: An irrigation (with and without sprinkling); B growth height at which harvesting takes place (35 cm, 50 cm and 65 cm); C cutting height (5 cm, 15 cm) and D of the variety (Artemis and Fleetwood). This results in six pruning times with different pruning intervals adapted to the growth height reached and the irrigation.
For each cutting variant, there are 12 laboratory variants with 3 replicates each, which are tested weekly in the LKV BB for their forage value. The following are investigated: the whole plant from the deep cutting method, the lucerne plant above 15 cm cutting height with exclusively high cutting method, the lucerne plant above 15 cm cutting height with high cutting method and subsequent deep cutting method, the planting range 5 to 15 cm and the leaf-stem separation in the threshing and wind sifting method. All variants are separated by variety. This results in 36 laboratory samples per growth and irrigation variant. Depending on the irrigation and growth rate, the plots are then replicated accordingly. This table contains the Index of the data collection.

Related datasets are listed in the metadata element 'Related Identifier'.
Dataset version 1.0