PAK-CAS ALFALFA: HIGH SEED YIELDING ALFALFA VARIETY OFFERING UNPARALLELED NUTRITIONAL VALUE AND BIOTIC TOLERANCE
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.58475/2025.63.4.1165Keywords:
Medicago sativa, seed production, high yield, protein content, biotic resistance, DNA fingerprinting, PakistanAbstract
Alfalfa seed production is a major challenge all over the globe and the research to combat this phenomenon of low seed yield is limited over the course of time. Its high seed yield, commercial distribution and delivery to farmers at a competitive price are critical issues in Pakistan. Seed yield is governed by complex interaction among genetic potential of a variety and its environments, pollinators, and crop management. Reduce biomass and nutritional value is another limiting factor in impacting the productivity and growth of livestock sector. Under this scenario, scientist of Fodder Research Substation has initiated an effort during the studied year 2013-2015 to develop a new variety of alfalfa (PAK CAS-Alfalfa) by mass selection. Diverse group of seven elite lines (No. 6316, No. 6450 and No. 6455) from local and foreign origin (No. 6433, NO. 34187 No. 9011 and No. 8004) were used to develop promising line FA-01-2019, which was later named as PAK CAS-Alfalfa (2024). This magical variety has proven as high forage yielder (9% higher yield in National Trials) along with high crude protein (22.4%) contents than existing alfalfa varieties. This variety is resistant to Rhizoctonia solani (moderately resistant), alfalfa weevil (3.7% and 3.4%), and stink bug (7.3% and 7.5%) which has deleterious impact on alfalfa fodder and seed yield. This variety (high-quality, nutritive fodder and strong adaptability) has the potential to overcome the constraints in alfalfa production and other fodder related quality parameters.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Qamar Shakil, Amna Kanwal, Zohab Asif, Muhammad Humaiyon, Asif Ali Khan, Zulfiqar Ali, Atif Farhat, Shamsa Kanwal, Shakra Jamil, Asma Parveen (Author)
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