Description
Ryegrass is widely adapted to cool temperate eco-zones and breeders often submit individual varieties for testing in a number of EU countries. National testing programmes often combine data from several trial sites that may differ climatically, but not from sites in other member states, despite the possibility of high ecological similarity. Given increasing interest in ‘animal value’ characters (soluble sugars, lipids, sward geometry), additional testing for these would be valuable but is prohibited by capped or declining funding. Data sharing between EU national authorities could be advantageous but is inhibited by the lack of statistically valid data on the sensitivity of each performance parameter to agro-climatic conditions across the EU. This paper, reports the preliminary stages of the ‘EuroVCU’ (herbage) desktop study of ryegrass variety performances across an extensive range of EU national test centres. Analysis of the resulting data sets quantifies the genotype by environment responses of current varieties and could provide a validated protocol for future data sharing.
Included in
Agricultural Science Commons, Agronomy and Crop Sciences Commons, Plant Biology Commons, Plant Pathology Commons, Soil Science Commons, Weed Science Commons
A Survey of European Regional Adaptation in Italian Ryegrass Varieties
Ryegrass is widely adapted to cool temperate eco-zones and breeders often submit individual varieties for testing in a number of EU countries. National testing programmes often combine data from several trial sites that may differ climatically, but not from sites in other member states, despite the possibility of high ecological similarity. Given increasing interest in ‘animal value’ characters (soluble sugars, lipids, sward geometry), additional testing for these would be valuable but is prohibited by capped or declining funding. Data sharing between EU national authorities could be advantageous but is inhibited by the lack of statistically valid data on the sensitivity of each performance parameter to agro-climatic conditions across the EU. This paper, reports the preliminary stages of the ‘EuroVCU’ (herbage) desktop study of ryegrass variety performances across an extensive range of EU national test centres. Analysis of the resulting data sets quantifies the genotype by environment responses of current varieties and could provide a validated protocol for future data sharing.
