Research focuses on drought tolerant alfalfa

Glacier FarmMedia — Purple is the usual color for alfalfa flowers, however it isn’t the one color. There are alfalfa varieties that produce white, blue, cream and yellow flowers.

Scientists from the College of Saskatchewan and the Nationwide Analysis Council are finding out alfalfa with yellow flowers to see if it could present drought tolerance in future varieties for Western Canada.

Observe all of our Ag in Motion coverage on the Western Producer.

Alberta Crop Report: Rains in the south, dryness in the north

Rain fell onto the southern half of Alberta last week, while hot and dry conditions persisted in the northern half, according to the province’s crop report released on July 18.

“(The) yellow flowering alfalfa might be coming from northern Mongolia and a few elements of Russia. It’s a really dry space,” mentioned Invoice Biligetu, a plant science professor on the College of Saskatchewan.

The forage crop breeder was at Ag In Movement 2025 July 15, one among 1000’s who attended the farm present northwest of Saskatoon.

Drought tolerant, high-performance alfalfa

Biligetu got here to Ag In Movement to speak about his analysis on forages, together with a undertaking on drought tolerant alfalfa.

He’s a part of a group of scientists who’re evaluating a various germplasm of alfalfa with the broader objective of designing a brand new selection that may cope with drought and nonetheless produce a adequate quantity of forage. The opposite undertaking leaders are Allan Feurtado of the NRC and Maryse Bourgault from the U of S’s plant sciences division.

The Beef Cattle Analysis Council and Outcomes Pushed Agricultural Analysis in Alberta are funding the undertaking, which began final fall and continues till 2028.

“Superior alfalfa genotypes with excessive efficiency under drought can be chosen for brand spanking new inhabitants improvement,” says the undertaking description.

“At the very least three new populations can be developed primarily based on flower shade, root traits and agronomic (yield).”

An alfalfa that performs during times with low moisture is required in elements of the Prairies. Southwestern Saskatchewan, as an example, has suffered by means of dry rising seasons since about 2018.

Specializing in the roots

The scientists have arrange experiments within the lab and on the Livestock Forage Centre of Excellence southeast of Saskatoon to review how the roots of several types of alfalfa develop into the soil once they lack moisture.

Specializing in the roots ought to give them clues on how alfalfa vegetation reply to drought and scavenge for moisture.

It’s attainable that yellow-flowering alfalfa is best outfitted to search out water within the soil.

“Typical Canadian varieties … have an enormous faucet root. There’s different purple flowering alfalfa which have (a mix) of department and faucet roots,” Biligetu mentioned.

“When you take a look at yellow-flowering alfalfa, they’ve branched roots. The branches are larger than the purple flowering alfalfa.”

This may increasingly assist vegetation gather water from a wider zone, he added.

Enhancing yellow-flowering alfalfa yield

There’s a yellow flowering alfalfa available on the market in Western Canada known as AC Yellowhead. It’s extraordinarily winter hardy and protracted, however yield is smaller than different alfalfa varieties.

“(It’s) fitted to pastures in each northern and southern areas and for hay the place one harvest per yr is meant,” says the Secan technical description of the range.

Biligetu is hoping to mix the drought tolerant traits from a yellow-flowering selection with the excessive yield from a purple alfalfa after which create a brand new selection that may deal with drought and produce a considerable quantity of forage.

Attending to that time will take a while, partly as a result of the scientists have to establish the genes that assist alfalfa deal with drought.

“(We’re) extracting DNA from all these alfalfa (sorts) after which we’re sequencing them, so we now have the genomic info,” he mentioned, including that drought tolerance is a posh trait.

“I don’t assume we will discover one or two genes. It’s extra seemingly many genes.”