Diagnosing Poor Growth in Alfalfa

Ayman Mostafa
Many growers, PCA and Extension specialists are always challenging by the task of determining unknown causes of poor crop growth in a field of alfalfa. Sometimes we can determine the causes, others we cannot achieve a quick conclusion, but often the actual causes of the problem are not known immediately. In alfalfa, several factors can interact to reduce crop growth, making diagnosis more problematic. Examination of field indicators and plant symptoms may provide clues as to the reason for poor growth or plant injury.
During the 2013 Western alfalfa symposium in Reno, Steve Orloff, Steve Norberg, Tim Hays of UC put an excellent program on “Diagnosing Problems in the Field”. The link to this session is now available at:http://lecture.ucanr.org/Mediasite/Play/ecdf9c44db224eba9745559f45f24b381d
All the videos and written material from this conference can be seen at: http://alfalfa.ucdavis.edu/+symposium/2013/index.aspx