Lucerne variety IGFRI-DL-2 (AWCL-2)

Lucerne variety IGFRI-DL-2 (AWCL-2) was identified and recommended for release for North West Zone of India comprising the states Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan in 2025 vide Gazette Notification S.O. 2128 (E) dt 13^th May 2025. It is a population developed from Anand-2 x Weevl chek. It is a herbaceous perennial and highly nutritious fodder legume grown under irrigated conditions. It grows to a height of 85-90 cm. It has slight deep green, small erect leaves with serrations on margins. It has light to medium dark purple flowers and yellow medium bold seeds. It is propagated through seed. It produces green fodder yield of 85-90 t/ha/year and dry matter yield of 10-15 t/ha. The Crude Protein Yield (CPY) of 2.5-3.0 t/ha and seed yield of 1.0-1.5 q/ha is recorded. It has Crude Protein content of 16-18% with in-vitro Dry Matter Digestibility (IVDMD) of 58-62%. Besides it is having Acid Detergent Fibre (ADF) (35-40%) and Neutral Detergent Fibre (NDF) (55-60%) which is desirable indicating digestibility and voluntary intake by animal. It is resistant to rust and leaf miner and mmoderately resistant to Weevil and Helicoverpa armigera.

The commercial utility of this variety is being perennial in nature can be grown both for fodder and seed. It is considered as the Queen of Forage Crops as it highly nutritious with high crude protein, rich in minerals like Ca,P,Mg and vitamins. It has great potential and GFY of 2 million tonnes can be realized even if it is adopted in 25% of Lucerne cultivated area. The dried leaves can be fed as leaf meal. It has high acceptability due to its high palatability as fodder and leaf meal. Potential medicinal value is in preparation of laxatives for Pharma industry. It improves the animal health with improved conception rate.  Higher milk yield with improved fat content, higher price for milk, thereby higher income generation for the livestock keepers. It is also suitable for apiary.

(Source: ICAR- Indian Grassland and Fodder Research Institute, Jhansi)