Correlation analysis between morphological characters and fiber content of alfalfa

The relationship between morphological characters (caulis length, internode number and internode length) and fiber content (NDF and ADF) of alfalfa was studied for breeding purpose. The results indicated that the differences of morphological characters, NDF and ADF contents among varieties were significant (P0.05). The coefficients of variation were internode length (29.91%)number of caulis and lateral branch (22.45%)caulis diameter (20.82%)number of lateral branch (19.76%)number of internode (12.57%)caulis length (8.87%)ADF content (4.18%)NDF content (3.24%). The caulis length positively correlated with NDF and ADF contents. Number of caulis and lateral branch positively correlated with ADF content. The rest characters did not show significant relationships with ADF and NDF contents.