Comportamiento productivo de la alfalfa (Medicago sativa) de la variedad caravelí sometida al pastoreo en el valle de huaral

The dry matter (DM) production of alfalfa (Medicago sativa), Caraveli variety, was evaluated per cut and per year, and its persistence over time in a prairie of the IVITAHuaral Station of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, San Marcos University (Lima, Peru). The pasture was installed in the spring of 2011 in 1 ha of land in beds of 3 x 40 m, using the method of hand sowing (35 kg/ha). Irrigation was performed periodically. The cultivation was grazed with dairy cows, from the third cut when it presented 10% flowering. A total of 28 cuts were done between December 2011 and November 2014. The DM in the first, second and third year had a mean per cut of 373.3, 395.0 and 409.6 g/m2, respectively (p<0.05). The number of plants per area decreased significantly within year (p<0.05), without affecting the production of dry matter.