PHOTOPERIOD RESPONSE CHARACTERISTICS OF ALFALFA (MEDICAGO-SATIVA L) CULTIVARS

Ten cultivars of alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) were exposed to low temperatures for varying times and to a series of photoperiods in controlled environment cabinets to determine vernalization and photoperiod responses. There was a reduction in time of 2-16 d from emergence to flowering for vernalization treatments. Vernalization treatments of less than 1 d or greater than 28 d had similar numbers of days from emergence to flowering. The photoperiod response characteristics included the basic vegetative phase (BVP), which is a juvenile phase that must be completed before the plant is responsive to photoperiod, the maximal optimal photoperiod (MOP), the photoperiod beyond which flowering occurs in a constant number of days, and photoperiod sensitivity, the number of days delay in flowering per hour increase in photoperiod. Anik and Vernal comprised a group with the longest BVP, 29.0 d; a group of six cultivars had a mean BVP of 27.6 d, and Maris Kabul and Saranac had the shortest BVP, 25.6 d. The MOP was greatest for Beaver (19 h), shortest for Vernal (17.7 h) and intermediate for the remaining cultivars (18.3 h). Alfalfa was confirmed as a long-day plant, because the time to flowering decreased as photoperiod was lengthened. This results in negative photoperiod sensitivity values. Anik, with a photoperiod sensitivity of -20.50 d h-1, was different from the rest of the cultivars, with a photoperiod sensitivity ranging from -8.51 to -5.08 d h-1. These results demonstrate that alfalfa photoperiod response is consistent with the general response observed for annual long-day species of crop plants and suggest that legume breeders may be able to incorporate specific photoperiod characteristics into alfalfa cultivars in order to optimize harvest dates.