Abstract:

This research evaluated forage oat varieties for suitability for spring sowing in central and southern Heilongjiang Province to assist the sustainable development of animal husbandry in this region. Our study monitored and analyzed the growth period， lodging resistance， yield traits and nutritional quality of 16 domestic and foreign oat （Avena sativa） varieties， and compiled a multi-trait production performance score using the grey correlation method. The results were as follows： Time from sowing to cutting （milk maturity） for the 16 oat varieties ranged from 83-97 days， during which time Mengshi No.1， Qingyin No.1， Qingyin No.2， Charisma， Helios and Kona did not lodge. Values for plant height， hay yield， fresh yield， crude protein （CP）， neutral detergent fiber （NDF）， acid detergent fiber （ADF）， ether extract （EE）， water-soluble carbohydrates （WSC）， and relative feed quality （RFQ）， respectively， ranged from 96.40-131.13 cm， 7287.73-14635.76 kg·hm^-2， 19366.97-36905.00 kg·hm^-2， 8.61%-11.39% dry matter （DM）， 42.86%-57.84%DM， 23.52%-34.99%DM， 1.19%-1.88%DM， 3.52%-10.18%DM， and 128.28-208.78. There were significant differences among different varieties in all characteristics evaluated （P<0.05）， and the plant heights of Qingyin No.1， Qinghai sweet oats and Heibei were significantly greater than those of other varieties. The hay yields of Mengshi No.1， Kona， Baiyan No.7 and Dahan were significantly higher than those of other varieties； The CP content of Lanniao No.1 was significantly higher than that of other varieties； The NDF contents of Baiyan No.7， Mengshi No.1 and Lanniao No.1 were significantly lower than Charisma and Everleaf， and Mengshi No.1， Baiyan No.7， Souris and Lanniao No.1 had significantly lower ADF than Everleaf. The RFQ value of Baiyan No.7 was significantly higher than that of other varieties. Grey correlation analysis showed that the weighting coefficients for plant height， CP and NDF ranked the top three among all traits and were therefore important characteristics for evaluating oat productivity in this region. Baiyan No.7， Mengshi No.1， Kona， Qingyin No.2 and Qinghai sweet oat had higher grey scores and superior multi-trait performance， and are therefore recommended as suitable for sowing in Heilongjiang Province and similar areas.

Key words: central and southern Heilongjiang Province, sown in spring, forage oat, productivity, nutritional quality