Ronald oat

Abstract

Ronald is a high-yielding, white-hulled, tall semidwarf oat (Avena sativa L.) cultivar with greatly improved panicle emergence compared with previously tested semidwarf lines. Ronald is postulated to carry the crown rust resistance combination Pc38, Pc39 and Pc68, which is highly effective against most of the present crown rust races on the Canadian prairies. It has very good resistance to loose and covered smut and good resistance to most of the prevalent races of stem rust, due to the likely presence of Pg2, Pg9 and Pg13, and moderate tolerance to barley yellow dwarf virus. Ronald has good kernel characteristics, such as high test weight, kernel weight and percent plump kernels. The grain characteristics exhibited by Ronald including hull-to-groat ratio, protein content and oil content should make it suitable for milling. It has excellent resistance to lodging. Ronald is well adapted for the oat growing areas of western Canada and in particular the Black Soil Zone of Manitoba and Saskatchewan where oat crown rust is prevalent. Key words: Oat, Avena sativa L., cultivar description, semidwarf oat, disease resistance, milling oat