5 results
Impact of landrace germplasm, non-conventional habit and regional cultivar selection on forage and seed yield of organically grown lucerne in Italy
- P. ANNICCHIARICO, L. PECETTI, R. TORRICELLI
-
- Journal:
- The Journal of Agricultural Science / Volume 150 / Issue 3 / June 2012
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 15 August 2011, pp. 345-355
-
- Article
- Export citation
-
Organically grown lucerne (Medicago sativa L.) should ensure sufficiently high forage and seed yields to sustain the profitability of organic production chains. Twenty lucerne populations were evaluated for forage dry matter (DM) yield over 3 years (2005–7), and for seed yield and its components in the third year, under organic management and a mowing regime in Lodi (sub-continental climate with sandy-loam soil) and Perugia (sub-Mediterranean climate with silty-clay soil). The objectives were to assess the impact on lucerne forage and seed yield of: (i) type of germplasm (landrace or commercial cultivar); (ii) plant growth habit (erect or non-conventional); (iii) area of germplasm origin or selection (northern Italy north of the Po river, NI-N; northern Italy south of the Po river, NI-S; central Italy, CI). The populations included seven cultivars selected under conventional management and one selected under organic management, seven landraces and five breeding selections, of which one was semi-erect and one was semi-prostrate. On average, cultivar and landrace germplasm types did not differ for forage or seed yield in any geographic set of populations (NI-N, NI-S or CI), except for the higher seed yield of landraces in one set. Compared with erect germplasm, semi-prostrate germplasm exhibited distinctly lower forage and seed yield, especially where weed competition was severe (Lodi) because of poor competitive ability. Semi-erect germplasm tended to have lower forage yield across locations. Specific adaptation was the main determinant of forage and seed yield responses of landraces and cultivars. Erect populations originated in NI-N were high yielding in the test site similar to NI-N environments (Lodi) and low yielding in the location representing CI environments (Perugia). Populations that originated in CI, including the cultivar selected under organic management, displayed the opposite adaptive response. Populations that originated in NI-S, whose major environmental characteristics were somewhat intermediate between NI-N and CI, tended to be mid-ranking for forage and seed yield in each site. The large cross-over population×location interaction was confirmed by the lack of genetic correlation for forage yield (rg=−0·25, P>0·20) and the negative genetic correlation for seed yield (rg=−0·68, P<0·05) of populations across locations. No genetic correlation across locations was found for density of fertile tillers and pod fertility. The association of population seed yield with its component traits was site-specific. Cropping and seed multiplication of locally adapted erect cultivars have paramount importance for mown organically grown lucerne in Italy.
Winter survival of pea, faba bean and white lupin cultivars in contrasting Italian locations and sowing times, and implications for selection
- P. ANNICCHIARICO, A. IANNUCCI
-
- Journal:
- The Journal of Agricultural Science / Volume 145 / Issue 6 / December 2007
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 11 July 2007, pp. 611-622
-
- Article
- Export citation
-
Increasing grain legume yields via autumn sowing requires winter-hardy material. Forty-nine pea, 24 faba bean and 11 white lupin cultivars recently released by 29 breeding institutions worldwide were sown in autumn 2002 at Lodi (northern Italy) and Foggia (southern Italy) on two different dates at each location, with the objective of assessing the winter survival of species and cultivars, its consistency across locations and sowing times, its relationship with grain yield and various morphophysiological traits and the implications for selection. The winter seasons were representative for the sites and had 54 frost days and −7·3°C absolute minimum temperature in Lodi, and 8 frost days and −3·4°C absolute minimum temperature in Foggia. The species differed in optimal sowing time at each location. Mild winter temperatures, preventing a sufficient hardening against late frosts, led to higher proportions of plants killed over winter in Foggia than in Lodi (0·17 v. 0·12 for pea; 0·20 v. 0·16 for faba bean; 0·34 v. 0·11 for lupin). Variation in winter mortality was much larger within species than among species. Winter mortality and grain yield of cultivars were inversely correlated (r=−0·49, −0·43 and −0·74 for entry means over locations of pea, faba bean and lupin, respectively). The consistency across environments of genotype winter mortality, estimated by genetic correlations, was high across sowing times and low across locations for faba bean, moderate across sowing times and fairly low across locations for pea, and always fairly high for lupin. A visual cold tolerance score was always related to better winter survival. Winter survival tended to correlate with larger seeds in faba bean and lupin, and was associated with later flowering in lupin. A rosette-like winter growth habit (defined by lower height/number of leaves ratio of seedlings in January) was correlated with winter survival in all species (after partialling out the influence of seed size in faba bean and lupin). The optimal index of indirect selection for low winter mortality included the cold tolerance score, the seedling height/number of leaves ratio and the seed size for faba bean, the first two of these variables for pea, but only the first variable for lupin. The gain in predicted efficiency over direct selection was high for faba bean (29%) and modest for pea and lupin (⩽10%).
Grain yield, straw yield and economic value of tall and semi-dwarf durum wheat cultivars in Algeria
- P. ANNICCHIARICO, Z. ABDELLAOUI, M. KELKOULI, H. ZERARGUI
-
- Journal:
- The Journal of Agricultural Science / Volume 143 / Issue 1 / February 2005
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 28 June 2005, pp. 57-64
-
- Article
- Export citation
-
In cereal-livestock farming systems of North Africa and West Asia the straw of durum wheat [Triticum turgidum (L.) Thell. ssp. turgidum conv. durum (Desf.) MacKey] is frequently used for feeding animals during the dry season and may enhance the sustainability and the flexibility of farming in various respects. In Algeria the average sale price per unit weight of the durum straw is around 30% of that of grain. Six tall and 18 semi-dwarf locally well-adapted cultivars were grown in the season 2000/01 at five Algerian locations representing the main durum wheat cropping areas to verify: (i) the impact of straw yield on the economic merit of cultivars for recommendation and (ii) the interest of tall v. semi-dwarf plant types for breeding. The tall material comprised four cultivars derived from local landraces and two old varieties. The semi-dwarf germplasm originated from CIMMYT, ICARDA or various Mediterranean countries. In the economic assessment the straw value was expressed in terms of grain-equivalent, defining an economic yield as: grain yield+(0·30×straw yield). The merit of individual cultivars was markedly affected by ignoring or taking into account the straw yield. On average, tall germplasm had a moderate (about 3%) but significant (P<0·02) economic advantage over semi-dwarf material as a result of much higher straw yield (+25%) and aerial biomass (+12%) and somewhat lower grain yield (−7%). However, three semi-dwarf varieties from CIMMYT were top-ranking for economic yield. They possessed outstanding aerial biomass and similar harvest index compared with the mean response of other semi-dwarf germplasm. On average, the tall germplasm showed higher grain yield stability (P<0·01), lower straw yield stability (P<0·01) and slightly higher stability of economic yield (P<0·11) than the semi-dwarf group as measured by Shukla's stability variance. Grain yield was negatively correlated with straw yield (r=−0·41, P<0·05), and was not correlated with aerial biomass, in the whole set of cultivars. However, it was not correlated with straw yield, and was positively correlated with aerial biomass (r=0·61, P<0·01), within the semi-dwarf germplasm. Information on straw yield can improve the targeting of cultivars for cereal-livestock farming systems. Breeding for these systems may target either a tall type within semi-dwarf material (i.e. a ‘tall dwarf’), or a truly tall plant type.
Breeding white clover for increased ability to compete with associated grasses
- P. ANNICCHIARICO
-
- Journal:
- The Journal of Agricultural Science / Volume 140 / Issue 3 / May 2003
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 05 August 2003, pp. 255-266
-
- Article
- Export citation
-
Greater white clover (Trifolium repens L.) competitive ability can increase the forage quantity and quality of clover-grass mixed stand (MS) cropping. The present work assessed the relationship of clover competitive ability with morphophysiological traits, and the efficiency of direct and indirect selection procedures for increasing clover dry matter (DM) yield in MS. Some 165 large-leaved clover genotypes representative of Italian Ladino germplasm and 13 clover genotypes from an elite small-leaved population were clonally evaluated for one year in pure stand (PS) and in MS environment with Italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum Lam.) and tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.) that reproduced the level of interspecific interference met by the clover over a multi-year crop cycle. Results for all genotypes and their subsets indicated that the level of leaf size variation among tested genotypes can affect the results. Wider variation decreased the relative importance of clover genotype×evaluation environment interaction, because competitive ability was mainly correlated with traits (longer petiole; larger leaflet) contributing to scale foraging in MS and yielding ability in PS. Competitive ability tended to be more closely associated with other traits (high stolon density; plasticity of petiole elongation) contributing to foraging ability, i.e. the ability to make fine-scale exploitation of light and nutrients in MS, within germplasm of similar leaf size. Leaf size variation also affected the relative efficiency of selection procedures estimated from expected responses to clonal selection. Results for all entries indicated direct selection in MS as 23% more efficient than selection in PS based on a selection index including three traits associated with competitive ability (petiole length; stolon density; leaflet size) which, in turn, was predicted to be 16% more effective than selection in PS based on DM yield. The advantage in relative efficiency of direct selection was almost doubled when considering only large-leaved germplasm. In a second experiment, evaluating 16 clover half-sib progenies of elite large-leaved parents for 2 years in PS and in MS with Italian ryegrass, tall fescue and cocksfoot (Dactylis glomerata L.), direct selection was estimated to be over three-fold and 68% more effective than indirect selection in PS based on DM yield and the selection index, respectively, based on expected responses to genotypic selection. The selection index may improve the efficiency of preliminary, PS-based clonal selection. Further evaluation of elite genotypes and/or their polycross progenies in MS is recommended for final selection.
Response of white clover genotypes to intergenotypic and interspecific interference
- P. ANNICCHIARICO, E. PIANO
-
- Journal:
- The Journal of Agricultural Science / Volume 128 / Issue 4 / June 1997
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 01 June 1997, pp. 431-437
-
- Article
- Export citation
-
Six white clover genotypes that were easily distinguishable from each other on the basis of leaf lamina marks and morphology were grown at Lodi, Italy, during 1990 and 1991 in dense swards, under field conditions and a mowing regime, as (i) pure stands, (ii) a complex mixture of all genotypes, (iii) binary mixtures of each genotype with each of two ryegrass varieties, and (iv) complex mixtures of all clover genotypes in binary association with each grass variety. The grass components were of known, different vigour. The study assessed both intergenotypic and interspecific interference and related dry matter yield responses to morpho-physiological traits of the clovers, and also determined whether a high level of morpho-physiological heterogeneity conferred a yield advantage on clover populations.
Greater heterogeneity (i.e. a complex mixture of clover genotypes) did not produce higher clover yields either in the presence or absence of interspecific interference from grass; thus, the use of blends of varieties or the development of varieties with a fairly high degree of heterogeneity was not recommended for short-term meadows in environments with relatively low spatial and temporal variability. Interactions for yield occurred between clover genotypes and the presence or absence of intergenotypic interference (P<0·001), and between clover genotypes and the presence or absence of interspecific interference from the grass variety characterized by greater vigour and aggressiveness (P<0·01). The variance of the former interaction tended to be consistently larger than that of the latter interaction, indicating that competitive effects were greater between clovers than between the clover and grass components. A lower Spring [ratio ] Summer yield ratio and taller canopy tended to confer a competitive advantage under intergenotypic interference. Relatively better performance under interspecific interference was related to higher stolon density, suggesting that selection for this trait may increase the general ecological compatibility of large-leaved white clover types grown with vigorous grass companions.