2. Berseem (Trifolium alexandrinum L.)
Berseem or Egyptian clover (Trifolium alexandrinum L.) is popularly
Known as the king of fodder crops for irrigated condition of
Northern India because It is available for 6-7 month from November
to May, give 4 to 6 cuts during winter, spring and early summer
seasons and provides nutrition, succulent and palatable forage.
• The green forage can also be converted in to excellent hay and
utilized for enrichment of poor quality roughages like straw.
• Besides, Berseem has got a soil building characteristics and
improves the physical, Chemical and biological properties of the
soil resulting in better growth and yield of crops in rotation. Thus,
the crop is very important from the view point of conservation
framing and important and imparts sustainability to soil
productivity and crop production system as a whole.
3. Botanical discription
English Name: Egyptian Clover
Scientific Name: Trifolium alexandrium
Other Spp.
White clover (Trifolium repens)
Red clover(Trifolium pratense)
Crimson clover (Trifolium incarnatum)
• Family: Leguminoceae (Fabaceae)
• It contains both diploid and tetraploid
varieties.
• 2n=16
4. Descripion
Berseem is a low shrubby annual
growing 60 – 90 cm high.
The main, succulent stem gives off
branches terminating in two or three
leaves.
These stems become fibrous after
the flowering stage.
Leaves are small, oblong and
rounded at the extremities, bright
green and slightly hairy
5. CHARACTERSTICS:-
Winter-annual legume
Native to the Mediterranean region
N content 2.6%
Flowers May-June
Does not self-reestablish: requires
annual sowing
Does well on deep alluvial soils
T
olerates alkalinity and salinity
6. USES
:- • As a grazing crop
1.
• As a haying crop
2.
3
.
• As a silage crop
7. As a grazing crop:-
Berseem clover needs a relatively
weed-free,firm seedbed for
optimum germination.
It does best under rotational
grazing and must be grazed before
it flowers or it loses productivity
It should not be grazed to less than
3 inches.
It provides palatable and nutritious
forage with a high relative feed
value.
The crude protein is equivalent or
slightly higher than alfalfa. (18-
28%)
8. As a haying crop:-
It should be sown in the spring with
a nurse crop.
Plants should be cut at 10 – 15 inch
height when new shoots appear at the
bottom of the stem.
It must be cut before it flowers and
should not be cut lower than 3 inches.
When planted with a nurse crop it
can be taken all together for silage or
chopped & allowed to regrow
9. As a silage crop:-
It is possible to make silage
with berseem and 5%
molasses.
can also be used as:-
Cover crops
Soil improver and erosion
control
Weed control
10. Climatic Requirements:-
• Berseem is adapted to cool and moderately cold climate.
• Such conditions prevail during winter and spring seasons in
north India which is considered as favourable and
productive zone for this crop.
• The optimum temperature at the time of sowing berseem
is 250C. For Iuxuriant vegetative growth temperature range
of 250C to 27oC has been found ideal.
• Uniformly high temperature in south Indian conditions
limits the cultivation of berseem.
11. Soil:-
• Well drained clay to clay loam soils rich in humus, calcium
and phosphorus are suitable for good crop of berseem.
• However, it can be grown on sandy loam soil but requires
frequent irrigations.
• Comparatively heavy textured soils considered better due
to greater water retaining capacity and congenial edaphic
environments for crop persistency.
• Tolerant to alkali
12. Cropping system:-
• Berseem finds its place in different cropping
systems in the following ways:
• In sequential cropping systems with annual grain
crops.
• In overlapping cropping systems with perennial
grasses.
• These systems are adopted on specialized dairy
farms to harvest green nutritious forage with twin
objectives of:
• Stabilizing milk production over the periods
• Reducing the concentrate mixture on animal ration
13. • However, berseem in intensive forge cropping system offers the following
advantage:-
• Growing of berseem ensures effective utilization of land during dormant phase of perennial grass
component
• Combination cropping of berseem and grasses helps in balanced utilization of plant nutrients from
different soil depths.
• Berseem improves physical, chemical and biological properties of soil and thus improves its fertility
status.
• Berseem provides nitrogen nutrition to companion grasses on one hand and cowpea is grown on
residual phosphate fertility of berseem on the other. Thus there is considerable saving of fertilizer
nutrients.
• Berseem in winter acts as live mulch and protects the grass tussocks from damage by prom age by
providing moist soil conditions.
• The system provides opportunities for rational use of water as extra irrigation are not required for
the establishment of grass in standing berseem crop.
• Intercropping perennial grasses with forage legumes has been reported to reduce anti quality
constituents like oxalates in hybrid napier, besides providing balanced and nutritious herbage to
animals.
• There is almost continuous flow of green forage throughout the year from the same piece of land
which is important for farmers with small size of holding.
14. Land preparation:
• The land should be perfectly leveled to obtain even
distribution of irrigation water and to avoid water
stagnation Berseem can be grown in saline sodic soils if
salt concentration is not allowed to accumulate above
certain critical level through field flooding and leaching to
provide optimum conditions for seed germination and
crop establishment.
• Once established, the crop can tolerate fair amount of salt
concentration. Moreover, rice- berseem rotation is
recommended to reclaim such soils as these crops require
frequent and heavy irrigations which cause considerable
leaching of salts from root zone.
15. Seed and sowing:-
• Seed cleaning:
• Usually (Chicorium intybus)/kasani is found admixed with berseem seed.
Since the size of chicory seed resembles with berseem seed; it becomes
difficult to separate them by ordinary methods.
• However, the seed of berseem is oval while the seed of is conical. To
remove chicory seeds, 10% common salt solution is used. The chicory
seeds being lighter in weight then berseem seed float on the surface while
berseem seeds settle down at the bottom of container. In this way chicory
seeds may be drained off and berseem seed collected.
Seed inoculation:
• Being a leguminous crop, berseem enriches the soil with sizeable
quantities of nitrogen through symbiotic nitrogen fixation with the help of
Rhizobium bacteria .
• Therefore, berseem seed should be inoculated with culture
of Rhizobium trifollii to enhance the process of biological nitrogen
fixation in root nodules especially in soils where berseem is being grown
for the first time
16. • Seed rate:
• Under normal condition :-25 kg/ha.
• When the sowing is taken up earlier than the appropriate time, the quantity of seed
used is increased by 15to20%to compensate the loss of seedling mortality occurring
due to prevailing high atmospheric temperature.
• Sowing time:
• Berseem should be sown when the temperature is in the range of 25-27oC.
• Thus, the optimum sowing time of berseem in Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh (the
bowl cultivation) is the entire month of October.
• In Bengal and Gujarat sowing is taken up only in the month of November. Sowing can
continue upto first week of December in eastern region.
• Delayed sowing results in loss or one of two cuttings. Timely sowing extends the
period of forage availability and thereby increases the total yield.
• Sowing method:
• depth of sowing:- 4-5cm,
• raking the soil and creating the muddy condition by light puddling (mechanical
manipulation of soil at high moisture content). Then the over night soaked seeds are
broadcast in standing muddy water. The sowing should be done towards the evening
or during non windy periods of the day.
17. Varieties:-
Mescavi
It is a fast growing variety and attains plant height of about 75 cm at flower
initiation stage.
On an average, it gives 500-600 quintals green fodder and 100-125 quintals dry
matter yields per hectare in about five cuttings.
It contains about 20 per cent crude protein on dry matter basis at early flowering
stage.
BL-1
This is a long duration variety as compared to the commonly grown variety
Mescavi. Because of this, one additional cutting may be obtained from this
variety by the end of June. It gives, on an average, green fodder and dry matter
yields of 600 and 130 q/ha, respectively.
BL-22
This is a long duration variety which gives additional cut during June.
It gives, on an average, green fodder and dry matter yields of 750 and 135 q/ha,
respectively.
18. Improved varieties
Pusa giant
IGFR-S-99-1
UPB-101,103,104 & 105
Field preparation :-
Fine and smooth seed bed free from clods
Free of termites and ants
The land should be well tilled, levelled
and should be free
from weeds.
19. Nursery preparation:-
• Seed bed preparation:
• The land should be opened with soil inversion plough
followed by 2or 3 operations by desi plough/cultivator.
• The preparation of good seed bed is an essential component
of cultivation practices to obtain desired level of tilth.
• Fine seed bed is required especially when berseem is to be
grown as seed crop in rows without pudling to facilitate weed
removal and rouging for quality seed production.
• When the crop is to be sown in puddle beds thorough
cultivation is not required, only cross harrowing /ploughing
are needed to remove established weeds, stubbles of the
previous crop and to open the soil for leveling by planking.
20. Water requirements
• Berseem requires huge quantities of water for producing high
succulent biomass.
• For every kilogram of plant dry matter produced as much as 500 kilograms
of more or water may be necessary in a dry climate. Therefore, adequate
and timely water supply is one the basic inputs for obtaining potential
crop yield which necessitates precise knowledge of irrigation techniques
and approaches in berseem crop. On the basis of irrigation investigation at
IGFRI, Jhansi over the years emerged the following useful information on
irrigation management of berseem:
•
• Parameter Information
•
• Optimum soil moisture regime in top 45 cm soil depth 75% available
soil moisture (ASM)
• 2.Irrigation interval 10-12 days
• 3.Number of irrigations 16-18
• 4.Irrigation requirement 710 mm`
• 5.Water use efficiency 22 kg dry matter/ha/mm
21. • On the basis of soil type and normal climatic
condition the following irrigation schedules
recommended in different seasons and soils
• Season Soil type
• Clay and clay loam soil Loam soil
• October to February 14-16 days interval 12-14 days
interval
• March to April 10-12 days interval 8-10 days
interval
22. Weed control:
• The weed management is one of the vital components
of berseem production. The major associated weed of
berseem crop is chicory (Chicorium intybus).
• The nature of this weed is such that it infests from field
to seed and vice-versa. The intensity of field
infestations could be minimized by treatment with 10%
solution of common salt and deep summer ploughing
with soil inversion plough after final harvest of the
crop.
Weed free condition upto 25 DAS
2 hand weedings at 21 DAS and after 35 to 40 DAS
23. Disease management:
• During the month of December and January when the crop attains luxuriant
vegetative growth and cloudy days persist for longer period, the heavy infestation of
fungal diseases such as root rot caused by Rhizoctenia soloni and Fusanlum
smitactum and stem rot caused by sclerotinia trifoliorum occur. If crop is cut the
fungal growth in patches can easily be seen. As rotten stubbles. It has been observed
that the problem is more acute under the following situation:
• Field is heavily manured with undecomponsed farm yard manure and/or irrigated
with sewage.
• Water stagnated creation damp conditions.
• Light penetration at the ground is curtailed due to delayed cutting.
• Cloudy condition prevails for longer period.
• Agronomic approaches to solve this problem include.
• Avoiding the growing of berseem crop in the same field year after year and deep
ploughing during summer.
• Using well rotten manure in proper quantities.
• Fertilizing the crop with heavy dose of potassium.
• Leveling field properly to avoid water stagnation.
• Avoiding too frequent irrigations during cloudy days.
• Cutting the crop frequently to expose the ground for adequate light availability.
24. Harvesting:-
• Forage quality:
• Berseem is highly nutritious, succulent and palatable
forage for all types of livestock.
• It stimulates milk production of cows and buffaloes.
• Berseem is a good source of crude protein, calcium,
phosphorus and ether extract.
• The green forage of berseem on drymatter basis
contains 17-22% CP, 24-25% cellulose and 7-10%
hemicellulose.
25. Cutting:-
First cutting 40 -45 DAS
Subsequent cuttings at an interval of 20 –
• 25 DAS
Number of harvest depends up on winter
season
Total cuttings – 6 to 8 per year
50-100 t green fodder
26. Cutting management and Forage yield:
• Forge yield potential of berseem crop is very
high. The crop is capable of producing 1000 to
1200 q/ha of green forage under improved
agronomic management practices and
favorable weather conditions.
• Mixing Japan rape or Chines cabbage 2.25 kg
seed/ha increases the yield by 20-25 per cent
in first cut. The yield may further be increased
by introducing early cutting.
