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Acta Prataculturae Sinica ›› 2021, Vol. 30 ›› Issue (5): 174-185.DOI: 10.11686/cyxb2020447

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Multi-trait evaluation of yield and nutritive value of 12 Lolium multiflorum varieties or lines in Chengdu Plain

Yi XIAO(), Zhong-fu YANG, Gang NIE, Jia-ting HAN, Yang SHUAI, Xin-quan ZHANG()   

  1. Department of Grassland Science,Sichuan Agricultural University,Chengdu 611130,China
  • Received:2020-10-13 Revised:2020-11-26 Online:2021-05-20 Published:2021-04-16
  • Contact: Xin-quan ZHANG

Abstract:

This research evaluated the growth rate (measured as rate of height increase), stem∶leaf ratio, mowing height, fresh yield, hay yield and other production performance indexes of 12 Italian ryegrass varieties (lines) in order to select and breed new lines of Italian ryegrass suitable for cultivation in Chengdu, Southern China. Concurrently, herbage nutritional quality at different mowing stages was measured by near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). It was found that the tested Italian ryegrass varieties (lines) grew rapidly (2.05 to 2.18 cm?d-1) during March and April. However, the stem∶leaf ratio was comparatively high, ranging from 1.02∶1 to 1.14∶1 for fresh weight and from 0.71∶1 to 1.00∶1 for dry weight. The fresh yield of the tested varieties (lines) ranged from 93444 to 109660 kg·ha-1, and the hay yield from 13191 to 15099 kg·ha-1. Among the tested lines, the average hay yield of the new lines JG1 and DC2 was 15099 and 14846 kg·ha-1, and these values exceeded yield of the control variety Angus No.1 by 14.5% and 12.5%, respectively. The crude protein content of Andes (18.44%) was significantly higher than other varieties (lines) (P<0.05). The acid detergent fiber and neutral detergent fiber contents of the new line JG1 were the lowest at 26.09% and 53.43%, respectively, and the water soluble carbohydrate content of Chuannong No.1 was the highest at 21.67%. Ten indices related to forage yield and quality were utilized to evaluate the tested Italian ryegrass varieties (lines) via grey correlation analysis, which showed that DC2, JG1, CA1 and GB performed excellently in Chengdu Plain and could be further tested for promotion and utilization.

Key words: Italian ryegrass, production performance, near infrared reflectance spectroscopy, nutritional quality, grey relational analysis