Abstract: In the semi-arid area of eastern Gansu province, performance and stress-resistance testing were conducted with 22 domestic and introduced alfalfa (Medicago sativa) varieties. 1) There were no differences between varieties in breeding time in the first year, but in the next year, domestic variety and WL series became green earlier than other varieties and there were significant differences in flower budding for all varieties. The drought- and cold-resistance of most of the introduced varieties were no better than those of the domestic ones such as Gannong No.1. 2) The analysis of three-year hay production showed a 6.4%-25.2% significant increase in 14 alfalfa varieties in contrasts with the Longdong variety. The hierarchy analysis indicated that the varieties could be divided into 4 ranks based on their performance: Phabulous and Gannong No.1 were the best. 3) Some of the varieties, including Gannong No.1, Phabulous, Algonquin, Ameristand, and Amerigraze, would be suitable for wide utilization in the Qingyang area because they all easily performed with high, more stable production, drought- and cold-resistance, and higher assessment scores. The rest, including Gannong No.2, Alfaking, Xinjiang, Gannong No.3, and Sanditi, could be used in some areas according to the individual ecological conditions, variety property and utilization target.