美国密执安州立大学园艺学部的里斯博士研究小组,用苜蓿的绿色体给农作物做追肥试验,将苜蓿的茎和叶切细,埋在水稻、玉米和蕃茄等作物的幼苗根部两侧。试验结果,每亩仅施用22.3斤鲜苜蓿,就能使这些作物增产10～40%。为了进一步验证这个惊人的增产效果,里斯小组又在温室内重复试验,发现只要极少量的苜蓿,就对作物有促进生长的作用。这个增产效果,显 Dr. Rees team from horticultural department of Michigan State University, USA, used the green body of alfalfa to make topdressing experiments on crops. The stems and leaves of alfalfa were shredded and buried on the roots of seedlings such as rice, corn and tomato. As a result, only 22.3 kg of fresh alfalfa per acre could increase yields of these crops by 10-40%. To further verify this dramatic increase in yield, the Reese team repeated trials in the greenhouse and found that with very small amounts of alfalfa, it had a growth-promoting effect on the crop. This increase effect, obviously