Indirect Mass Selection for Grain Yield in Oat Populations1

Abstract

The effectiveness of mass selection for heavy panicle weight in a heterogeneous oat (Avena sativa L.) population was evaluated using an F6 bulk oat population composed by mixing seed samples from 160 crosses. To initiate the selection procedure, 6,000 samples of 30 seeds were sown, each in a hill in the center of a 0.09‐m2 land area. After harvest, the three heaviest panicles (10%) were selected from each hill and bulk‐threshed. Two cycles, of this type of mass selection were carried out, and subsequently, 390 lines from the original and first cycle mass‐selected populations, 360 lines from the second cycle mass‐selected population, rand 30 check cultivars were tested for grain yield and other traits in replicated experiments.The mass‐selection procedure increased panicle weight 7.5% and grain yield 5.6% per cycle. These shifts were associated with taller plant heights and later heading dates. The increase in grain yield was attributed 80% to increased seeds per panicle and 20% to increased seed weight. Tillering was decreased 2.5%.