Abstract:

Oat （Avena sativa） is an annual crop belonging to the Poaceae family with resistance to salinity， drought， cold stress， and adaptability to a wide range of environmental conditions including lower soil fertility. Oats are widely grown in temperate regions north of 40° N latitude in Europe， North America， and Asia. Oats also have a high forage yield， high nutritional value， good palatability， high digestibility， and the crop is suitable for silage and hay production. Therefore， oat is a versatile grain crop useful for food and forage purposes. Oat cultivars can be classified as naked or hulled oats depending on whether the grains readily separate from the husk or lemma at threshing. Hulled oats retain their husk. Naked oats without husks are mostly grown in China and are commonly used for food， while hulled oats which retain their husks are mainly grown in other countries， and are often used for feeding livestock. With the rapid development of animal husbandry in China in recent years， the available forage oat varieties are currently in need of improvement. Our country has formulated and implemented a series of policies that include “grass-based livestock husbandry”， “grain to forage” and “planting grass in fields”， which have promoted the rapid development of the forage oat industry. Under the strong support and guidance of these national policies and industry need， the planting area of forage oats has continued to expand， and the demand for new varieties has become increasingly urgent， which also points to higher requirements for the breeding of forage oats. In this study， we reviewed： 1） Collection， sorting， identification， and evaluation of germplasm resources of forage oats at home and abroad； 2） Four development stages of conventional breeding； and 3） The application of molecular technology in scientific research and breeding of oats. Based the above review， the current breeding objectives of forage oats are clarified， and the key points， difficulties， and immediate issues of forage oat breeding are discussed and analyzed， thus providing an important resource to underpin further developments in forage oat breeding.

Key words: forage oats, germplasm resources, breeding, molecular techniques, genetic engineering