Alfalfa
Alfalfa is a warm-temperate herbaceous crop that grows best in the 21–27°C range with 600–1200 mm of rain, cropping over a 100–210-day season.
How it grows
Alfalfa grows in pods held above the ground on a bushy plant.
Where Earth's climate suits alfalfa
Climatic suitability only — scored for every 0.5° of the planet from this crop's temperature and rainfall tolerances (FAO EcoCrop) on AgroClim 1991–2025 normals (AgERA5 temperature, CHIRPS/ERA5 rainfall). It shows where the rain-fed climate permits the crop, not where it is grown today; irrigation lets many crops thrive in drier country than the map suggests (California, Egypt, the Indus and Nile).
Who grows it — and where the climate merely allows it
Climate envelope · FAO EcoCrop
Deep bar = optimal range; pale bar = absolute tolerance. Beyond the pale bar the crop fails. Latitude tolerance ±58° · soil pH 4.3–8.7.
Growing calendar & hazards
An annual cycle of roughly 100–210 days from sowing to harvest, so it is timed to fall within the frost-free, adequately-wet part of the year for the location.
- Hard freeze. Tolerant of chill but killed once temperatures fall below about 0°C.
- Drought. Relatively drought-hardy, but a failed rainy season still cuts yield sharply where irrigation is absent.