Effect of integration of water and silicon fertilizer on the growth of alfalfa under subsurface drip irrigation

In order to explore the influence of integration of irrigation water and fertilizer on the growth and quality of alfalfa under subsurface drip irrigation (SDI), the pot culture experiment simulated SDI and integration of water and silicon fertilizer was carried out with four treatments of silicon concentrations (0、0.01、0.02 and 0.03 g SiO2·kg-1 Soil) and nine duplicates for each treatment. The results showed that six growth indexes of alfalfa applied silicon fertilizer were higher than that of without silicon fertilizer. As for the quality of alfalfa hay, CP with 0.02 g·kg-1 silicon fertilizer was the highest, NDF with 0.02 g·kg-1 silicon fertilizer was the least. So the conclusion was that the integration of irrigation water and silicon fertilizer under subsurface drip irrigation can promote growth of alfalfa,and silicon fertilizer promote the early growth stage of alfalfa more than the late growth stage of alfalfa. Plants with 0.02 g·kg-1 Si fertilizer has higher quality than other plants.