Publication Date
1993
Description
86 cullivars of perennial ryegrass from The Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, France and Britain together with 9 New Zealand (NZ) cultivars were evaluated for agronomic potential in the cool, temperate southern region of NZ. Spaced plants of each cultivar were established in 1989 and screened for seasonal growth, moiphological features, head emergence, foliar diseases and endophyte presence. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was used to order the relative performance of the cultivars taking all characters into consideration. A group containing 5 elite tetraploid and 10 diploid European cultivars showed potential for improving the summer feed quality of ryegrass. These cultivars contained densely tillered plants with leafy growth, few reproductive heads in early summer compared with NZ material and were non-endophytic. These features are important for maximising animal intake, digestibility and growth over summer. The late-heading feature of European cultivars is usually linked to poor late winterearly spring growth but the growth of the tetraploids showed similar growth to NZ material in the second winter and good persistence.· The elite European material could be either hybridised with NZ material to incorporate summer quality features or selected and developed independently.
Citation
Widdup, K H. and Ryan, D L., "Potential of European Perennial Ryegrass Germplasm in Southern New Zealand" (2024). IGC Proceedings (1993-2023). 17.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/igc/1993/session9/17
Included in
Agricultural Science Commons, Agronomy and Crop Sciences Commons, Plant Biology Commons, Plant Pathology Commons, Soil Science Commons, Weed Science Commons
Potential of European Perennial Ryegrass Germplasm in Southern New Zealand
86 cullivars of perennial ryegrass from The Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, France and Britain together with 9 New Zealand (NZ) cultivars were evaluated for agronomic potential in the cool, temperate southern region of NZ. Spaced plants of each cultivar were established in 1989 and screened for seasonal growth, moiphological features, head emergence, foliar diseases and endophyte presence. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was used to order the relative performance of the cultivars taking all characters into consideration. A group containing 5 elite tetraploid and 10 diploid European cultivars showed potential for improving the summer feed quality of ryegrass. These cultivars contained densely tillered plants with leafy growth, few reproductive heads in early summer compared with NZ material and were non-endophytic. These features are important for maximising animal intake, digestibility and growth over summer. The late-heading feature of European cultivars is usually linked to poor late winterearly spring growth but the growth of the tetraploids showed similar growth to NZ material in the second winter and good persistence.· The elite European material could be either hybridised with NZ material to incorporate summer quality features or selected and developed independently.
