ABSTRACT
Alfalfa can be grown for silage, hay production, or fresh fodder. It is a highly palatable, digestible, and regenerative crop. It has nitrogen-fixing properties that improve soil health, so there is less need to apply fertilizer for the following crops. Its primary utility is feed for dairy animals, beef cattle, horses, and small ruminants (sheep and goats). It improves animal health and breeding efficiency. It is the third most valuable crop after corn and soybean. Diseases pose a negative impact on the nutritional contents, growth phases, and productivity of the crop. Diseases caused by fungi, bacteria, and viruses reduce the crop’s potential yield and create a gap between the availability of and demand for alfalfa. This chapter focuses on the fungal, bacterial, and viral diseases causing significant economic losses to the crop. We have mainly focused on disease etiology, distribution and losses, disease perpetuation, and practical disease management strategies.
