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Six varieties of alfalfa, namely Yazdi, Hainadani (native vatieties) and Ranger, Moapa, Messacirsa and Elyonico (introduced ones)were compared in a field trial under climatic condition of Mashhad. A latin square design was employed in order to evaluate the vareties in terms of productivity and morphological characteristics. This experiment was repeated twice, In many respects, native variety, Yazdi, proved not to be inferior than the introduced ones.
In general there was not much difference in dry matter content between varieties. Highest yield was obtained from Yazdi, Elyonico and Moapa. The proportion of leaf to dry matter was higher in Hainadani and Ranger than others. The lowest proportion of leaf was in Moapa. Yazdi and Elyonico were somewhat intermediate. The proportion of stem to dry matter ranged from 47 to 51 percent. The highest amounts were in Yazdi, Moapa, Hamadan, Elyonico and Messacirsa and the lowest in Ranger.
Yazdi and Moapa had the tallest crop and Ranger and Hamadani the shortest. Number of stems per unit area in the varieties did not differ significantly and there was not much difference between varieties in number of internodes per plant.