Agronomic characteristics and nutritional value
Berseem is a succulent, highly palatable annual legume that significantly improves livestock feed efficiency.
- Crude Protein: Rich in digestible crude protein (18% to 20%) and essential minerals like calcium and phosphorus.
- Milk Productivity: Feeding berseem reduces concentrate feed requirements while maintaining high dairy milk yields.
- Soil Fertility: Nodulating roots fix substantial biological nitrogen, enriching the soil for succeeding summer or kharif crops.
- Multi-Cut Capability: Regrows rapidly after each harvest, yielding 4 to 6 productive cuts between November and May.
Sowing window, seed rate, and field preparation
Proper seed inoculation and seedbed preparation ensure uniform germination and high first-cut biomass.
- Sowing Window: First week of October to mid-November when ambient temperatures drop to around 25 degrees Celsius.
- Seed Rate: 20 to 25 kg per hectare of certified clean seed.
- Rhizobium Inoculation: Inoculate seeds with Rhizobium trifolii culture using jaggery slurry to ensure active root nodulation.
- Sowing Technique: Broadcast seeds into standing shallow water (wet sowing) or drill into a finely prepared moist seedbed.
- Intercropping: Frequently mixed with mustard or oats (2 kg mustard or 15 kg oats per hectare) to boost first-cut green yield.
Irrigation and cutting management
Careful water delivery and cutting height management preserve root crowns for vigorous subsequent regrowth.
- Irrigation: First irrigation within 4 to 5 days after wet sowing; subsequent waterings every 10 to 14 days in winter and 8 to 10 days in spring.
- First Cutting: Harvest first cut 50 to 55 days after sowing when plants attain 35 to 40 cm height.
- Subsequent Cuts: Harvest subsequent cuts at 30 to 35 day intervals.
- Cutting Height: Cut at 5 to 7 cm above ground level; cutting too close to the soil damages regenerative crowns and stunts regrowth.
Official source
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ICAR - Indian Grassland and Fodder Research Institute (IGFRI) ↗Related on KisanPe
Common questions
What is the Hindi name for Egyptian Clover?
Egyptian Clover is widely known as Barseen (बरसीम) or Berseem across North and Central India.
Why is mustard seed often mixed with Berseem at sowing?
Mixing a small amount of mustard (about 1 to 2 kg per hectare) provides rapid early biomass, significantly increasing green fodder yield in the first cut.
How many cuts can a farmer harvest from a single Berseem crop?
Under good irrigation and fertility management, Berseem provides 4 to 6 cuttings from December through April or May.
General guidance, not personal advice. For your farm, ask your local Krishi Vigyan Kendra or agriculture officer.
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