Effects of different sowing methods on the agronomic and productive properties of alfalfa in the agricultural arid area of Eastern Qinghai

In order to select suitable sowing methods of alfalfa in the arid area of Eastern Qinghai, three alfalfa varieties, Longdong alfalfa, WL343, and Gold empress, were selected and planted using three sowing methods (broadcast sowing, drilling, and precision hole sowing). The results showed that: 1) the overwintering rate among the three varieties was significantly different (P < 0.01), and the overwintering rate of WL343 was 78.74%, which was 7.86% and 13.16% higher than that of Longdong alfalfa and Gold empress, respectively; there were no significant differences between the three sowing methods (P > 0.05). 2) There were significant differences in plant height, growth rate, and stem leaf ratio among WL343 and Gold empress and Longdong alfalfa (P < 0.05), no significant difference in branch number per plant compared with Gold empress alfalfa, but a significant difference in branch number compared with Longdong alfalfa (P < 0.05); the plant height under precision hole sowing method was significantly higher than that of drilling and broadcast sowing and the number of branches per plant was significantly different between precision hole sowing and broadcast sowing. The stem leaf ratio was significantly lower than that of sowing and drilling. 3) There was no significant difference between the fresh grass yield of WL343 alfalfa of the second year, and that of Gold empress was 10.57% higher than that of Longdong alfalfa; there was no significant difference between the fresh grass yield of precision hole sowing and drilling, but a significant difference in precision hole sowing and broadcast sowing. The average forage yield of WL343 alfalfa with precision hole sowing was 39.86 t·hm⁻², which was higher than that of other varieties and among sowing methods. 4) The crude protein content of WL343 alfalfa was 19.20%, which was 2.65% and 6.12% higher than that of Gold empress and Longdong alfalfa, respectively, 20.41% and 7.83% for crude fiber, and 17.23% higher than Gold empress for nitrogen free extract. Based on the agronomic characteristics and production performance analysis, the combination of WL343 alfalfa with precision hole sowing performed much better in in the eastern agricultural arid area of Qinghai Province.