In India, the area under cultivated fodder crops is only 4.4 % of the gross cropped area. At present, the country faces a net deficit of 61.1 % green fodder, 21.9 % dry crop residues and 64 % feeds. The total livestock population of 485 million heads, which is about 15% of the world's livestock and is having 16 % of human population to be sustained on approximately 2 % of total geographical areas of the world. The available land is being used for arable farming and food production so there is a tremendous pressure on the availability of feed and fodder. The total cultivated fodder cropped area in India was 8.265 million hectares and among forage crops, lucerne or Alfalfa is being grown in 1.0 million hectare and its green fodder productivity was 60-130 tonnes per hectare.
lucerne is without doubt the king of all fodder crops grown worldwide is deep-rooted perennial legume suited to dry land and irrigation systems on a range of soil types across variable climatic conditions. Its main production periods are winter, summer and monsoon producing high protein, highly digestible feed whether it is for cultivating, grazing or haymaking. In India, lucerne can be sown as a cultivated crop either alone or in some circumstances under sown in mixed grain crops like wheat, mustard.

In India, the area under cultivated fodder crops is only 4.4 % of the gross cropped area. At present, the country faces a net deficit of 61.1 % green fodder, 21.9 % dry crop residues and 64 % feeds. The total livestock population of 485 million heads, which is about 15% of the world's livestock and is having 16 % of human population to be sustained on approximately 2 % of total geographical areas of the world. The available land is being used for arable farming and food production so there is a tremendous pressure on the availability of feed and fodder. The total cultivated fodder cropped area in India was 8.265 million hectares and among forage crops, lucerne or Alfalfa is being grown in 1.0 million hectare and its green fodder productivity was 60-130 tonnes per hectare.
lucerne is without doubt the king of all fodder crops grown worldwide is deep-rooted perennial legume suited to dry land and irrigation systems on a range of soil types across variable climatic conditions. Its main production periods are winter, summer and monsoon producing high protein, highly digestible feed whether it is for cultivating, grazing or haymaking. In India, lucerne can be sown as a cultivated crop either alone or in some circumstances under sown in mixed grain crops like wheat, mustard.