DOI: 10.5507/vup.21.24459677.28

Italian Ryegrass – Higher Seed Yield through Targeted Selection for Low Seed Shattering

Jenny Peter, Roland Kölliker, Bruno Studer, Cristoph Grieder

For a forage grass cultivar to be successful on the market, a high seed yield is a prerequisite. Therefore, the main goal of this project is to evaluate the feasibility of including seed yield as a selection criterion in Italian ryegrass breeding. A preliminary test with Agroscope germplasm showed that reduced seed yield was mainly caused by seed shattering, which is thought to be controlled by only a few genes. Currently, a field experiment is performed to examine the potential of reducing seed shattering by direct phenotypic selection on spaced plants. Starting from a common base population, plants are selected for high and low seed shattering. After one cycle of selection, a significant difference was observed between families selected for high or low seed shattering, respectively. Therefore, selection for reduced seed shattering seems to be very effective in Italian ryegrass. A second selection cycle be performed and families will be evaluated as spaced plants and in rows.

pages: 117-120