Use of ranking method in the development of new orchardgrass varieties

Abstract

The paper presents the results of selecting the most promising orchardgrass (Dactylis glomerata L.) samples, conducted from 2016 to 2021 in the collection nursery of the Institute of Agrobiotechnology, Federal Research Center Komi Scientific Center Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Republic of Komi, Syktyvkar), based on criteria such as green mass yield for two mowings, ecological plasticity, stability, and adaptability. It allowed for a more comprehensive and objective assessment of this agricultural forage crop's genome potential for creating a new orchardgrass variety adapted to northern conditions. Six numbered samples from the Vavilov Institute of Plant Genetic Resources (VIR) with different ecological and geographical origins were chosen as the research objects: wild populations from the Republic of Komi (SN-184, SN-185, SN-186, SN188) and Norway (SN-1817), and the Haka variety from Finland (SN-1816). The Neva variety (Leningrad region), recommended for cultivation in the 1st (Northern) region of agricultural crop cultivation in the Russian Federation, was selected as the standard. Based on the comprehensive assessment of the six promising samples using ranking by 14 parameters, the authors identified one sample (SN-188) from the wild population of the Republic of Komi as having the best yield (27.0 t/ha), breeding value (6.1), stability level (165.5%), and adaptability coefficient (1.13) compared to the standard and other samples. This sample is recommended for transfer to the breeding test nursery with subsequent study of its economically valuable traits submission for state variety testing in the 1st (Northern) region of the Russian Federation.