Abstract
A field experiment was carried out during 2005/06 and 2006/07 seasons at the Experimental Farm of the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Khartoum, Shambat, Sudan, to study the effect of water quality and weeding on the yield and quality of three alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) cultivars. The three cultivars were Hegazi, a local cultivar, and two exotic cultivars (Cuf101 and Siriver). They were subjected to three water treatments (bore hole water, river water with screen mesh at the entrance of plots and river water without screen mesh) and three levels of weeding (monthly weeding, every two months and every three months). The treatments were assigned in a split-split plot design (watering as the main plots, weeding as the subplots and cultivars as the sub-subplots), replicated four times. The parameters studied were fresh and dry yields, crude protein and crude fiber content and number of weeds per unit area. The two introduced cultivars, Siriver and Cuf 101, were significantly better than the local cultivar, Hegazi, in forage fresh and dry yields and crude protein content. The local cultivar Hegazi gave a higher crude fiber content. Irrigation water treatments were not significantly different in crude protein and fiber contents. However, the river water with screen mesh treatment was significantly superior in forage fresh and dry yields and number of weeds per unit area than other water treatments, indicating the importance of this technique in boosting productivity of alfalfa along the River Nile. In all parameters, the river water without screen mesh treatment recorded the lowest estimates of the parameters measured. Monthly weeding gave a significant decrease in number of weeds per unit area than the other weeding treatments.