Important role of alfalfa in development of animal husbandry, is based on high potential for production of biomass. Reaching of high green (over 80 t ha-1) and dry matter yield (approx. 20 t ha-1) with low investment during all period of utilization makes alfalfa production very economical. Divergent selection materials were used to create high productive domestic alfalfa cultivars with excellent field persistence, which is important factor for high and stable yield during entire exploitation period. On the other hand, alfalfa is a rich source of crude protein with excellent digestibility. Proteins from alfalfa herbage are the cheapest source of protein in animal feed. Content of crude protein strongly depend on development stage of plant material and can be 200 to 240 g kg-1 DM, while crude protein yield can be over 3.5 t ha-1. Besides that, alfalfa herbage had a high content of macro and micro element, which are so important for animal health. It is usually grown in pure stand, although it's a good component of grass-legumes mixtures. Alfalfa biomass can be used in several ways, usually as hay, but also as high quality silages, haylages, dehydrated in form of briquettes or by grazing. Symbiotic N 2 fixation gives alfalfa not just economical, but very high ecological importance, too. It's a reason why alfalfa, besides important role in conventional husbandry is getting great role in sustainable agriculture and organic production. All those characteristics confirm, that alfalfa is a really "queen" of forages.

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Perennial legumes, alfalfa, red clover, bird's foot trefoil, white clover, sainfoin and grasses, cock's foot, meadow fescue, tall fescue, Italian ryegrass, English ryegrass, French ryegrass, red fescue and Timothy grass can be grown successfully in pure crops and in legume-grass mixtures, on different soil types. Their importance in livestock development is based primarily on the great potential for yield of dry matter of over 20 t ha -1 if adequate agro-technical measures have been applied. Also, perennial legumes are characterized with high content of nutritive substances, especially protein and represent the most important protein source in livestock nutrition. Depending on the species and pheno stage of utilization, the content of crude proteins in grasses varies from 100 to 174,6 g kg -1 of DM, and in perennial legumes from 190,0 to 228,8 g kg -1 of DM. Livestock feed obtained from these plant species can be used in several ways, from grazing as most efficient and economical way, to preparation of hay and high quality silages and haylages. Stated forage species are very important in sustainable agriculture and organic production, considering that they carry out the process of biological fixation of nitrogen, but also from the ecological aspect. By using diverse selection/breeding material numerous domestic cultivars of perennial legumes and grasses have been created which are characterized with high potential for main agronomical traits.

Assessment of red clover (Trifolium pratense L.) productivity in environmental stressProcjena proizvodnoga potencijala crvene djeteline (Trifolium pratense L.) u uvjetima okolišnoga stresa Tucak, M., Popović, S., Čupić, T., Krizmanić, G., Španić, V., Meglič, V., Radović , J. Original scientific paper Izvorni znanstveni članak ASSESSMENT OF RED CLOVER (TRIFOLIUM PRATENSE L.) PRODUCTIVITY IN ENVIRONMENTAL STRESS SUMMARYThe frequency of extreme climatic events has increased due to global climate change. The objectives of this research were to investigate the influence of climatic conditions (precipitation and temperature) on productivity of red clover cultivars and populations with a different genetic background and to identify those with high forage yield potential in environmental stress. Twenty-three red clover cultivars and populations of different geographical origin were studied during two consecutive growing seasons (2012 -extremely dry weather conditions, 2013 -humid weather conditions) at the Agricultural Institute Osijek, Croatia. A field experiment was performed as a randomized block design with three replicates. Green mass and dry matter yield and plant height were measured in both growing seasons, whereas the seed yield was determined in the first year only. Results indicated the stability or adaptability of evaluated red clover cultivars and populations to a dry or humid weather production conditions. Croatian populations (CD-3, TP-2, TP-7) and cultivar Viva, Serbian cultivar K-17 and German cultivar Taifun exhibited the highest forage yield potential under both, dry and humid growing conditions and represent a valuable material to be used in red clover breeding programs dealing with tolerance to abiotic stress.