Fasgain Haadu Berseem

Fasgain (Kern 200) is a winter berseem — clean, Cuscuta-free seed for dairy farmers who want green fodder running from December through to June from one sowing.

Cutting schedule and yield

Across a full October-to-June cycle with good management, that adds up to roughly 560–740 quintal per acre. These are honest ranges from well-run fields, not a guarantee — the number of cuts you actually take depends on sowing date, water and the post-cut routine.

Sowing window by region

Sowing date is the single biggest decision in this crop. November sowing typically costs you two cuts — six drops to three or four, and roughly 35–40% of the season's fodder. If you are waiting on the paddy harvest, sow within a week of clearing the field. One week's delay costs about one cutting.

How to sow

• Field prep: 3–4 ploughings and 1–2 plankings for a fine, level seedbed. Berseem fails on uneven beds because water does not sit evenly
• FYM: 4–6 trolleys per acre, ploughed in 15–20 days before sowing
• Basal per acre: DAP 50 kg (or SSP 150 kg where soil is sulphur-deficient, common in Punjab Malwa), MOP 16 kg, urea 18 kg. Only this much nitrogen — after nodulation the crop fixes its own
• Method: wet-bed broadcast. Flood the levelled field to 4–5 cm standing water and broadcast into it
• Seed rate: 8–10 kg per acre of clean seed
• Pack size: 1 kg

Do not broadcast on dry soil and then irrigate. The seed gets buried too deep and germination can fall to around 40%. Broadcasting into standing water keeps the seed at the right depth.

Rhizobium — first time only

If berseem has never been grown in that field, inoculate the seed with Rhizobium culture before sowing. Mix one packet in about 200 ml of 10% jaggery solution, coat the seed and dry it in shade for 30 minutes. Once a field has grown berseem, the soil holds the bacteria for three to four seasons.

Cuscuta-free seed

Amarbel (Cuscuta, akashbel) is the biggest seed-quality risk in berseem, appearing on stems around day 25–35 when the seed was unclean. Kern 200 is supplied Cuscuta-free.

You can check any berseem seed yourself: soak it in 10% salt water for 5–10 minutes. Kasni and broken seed float and can be skimmed off; sound berseem sinks.

The routine that protects your yield

• Irrigate within 24 hours of every cut, and top-dress 10 kg urea per acre. Skipping either drops the next cut by 20–30%
• Stubble height 6–8 cm. Cutting closer than that weakens regrowth — the common advice to cut at 2–3 cm is wrong for this crop
• First irrigation at day 18–25, light rather than flooded. Hold off entirely for the first 6–7 days after sowing

Mixing with other crops

Common practice in Punjab and Haryana is to add sarson at 500–750 g per acre for early bulk in the first 30–40 days, or ryegrass at 1–1.5 kg per acre, or oats broadcast separately at 15–20 kg per acre.

After the last cut

Ploughing the crop in as green manure fixes roughly 80–100 kg of nitrogen per hectare into the soil for your next paddy or maize crop. Saving your own seed is possible but quality drops sharply after the first year and Cuscuta risk rises with each cycle.

A note on saline patches: where ECe is above 4 dS/m, berseem yield falls 30–40%. Test the patch before committing a large area.

Please remember the product code KERN-200 when ordering. Confirm the current lot's germination and Cuscuta-free certification with your Kern dealer.