SOLR df and qf explanation

df is the default field and will only take effect if the qf is not defined.

I guess you are not using dismax parser and using the default settings in solrconfig.xml

qf then won't take effect anyways and the df field which is text would not return values.

df=description searches on the field and hence returns values. Try passing defType=edismax as parameter.

The df stands for default field, while the qf stands for query fields.

The field defined by the df parameter is used when no fields are mentioned in the query. For example if you are running a query like q=solr and you have df=title the query itself will actually be title:solr. The df parameter is supported by the default Solr request handler.

The qf parameter is something used by the dismax query parser and the edismax query parser. You probably don't have the defType=dismax or defType=edismax added to your request handler parameters or to your query. Try adding it and you should get the search results.