• • • Phytocenotic forage plant breeding: background and some results
Phytocenotic forage plant breeding is of great importance for agriculture. The research determined main principles of phytocenotic plant breeding as fundamental aspect in the fodder crop selection strategy. It is aimed at breeding promising varieties, having valuable traits for stable productivity and longevity, in high-productive forage grass mixtures. Alfalfa (Medicago L.) and prostrate summer cypress (Kochia prostrata (L.) Schrad.) performed as objects of study. Breeding scheme for alfalfa varieties included the following variants: 1) alfalfa monoculture; 2) mixture of alfalfa and gramineous for hay production; 3) alfalfa mixtures for grazing. To develop stable competitive selective material field trial was designed as: 1) prostrate summer cypress — monoculture; 2) prostrate summer cypress (50%) + Camphorosma lessingii (30%) + Krascheninnikovia ceratoides (25%) + bulbous bluegrass (5%). Alfalfa varieties (“Sonata”, “Lugovaya 67”, “Selena” and “Pastbishchnaya 68”), bred phytocenotically, had ratio of 61% for the 4th year, while standard variety — 26%. Obtained varieties exceeded standard variety “Vega 87” by 20.5–25.0% in dry matter productivity. Productivity of the prostrate summer cypress mixture varied within 1.73–2.30 t DM ha-1 among the years, while the one of prostrate summer cypress monoculture — within 1.05–1.75 t ha-1.
Source: https://kormoproizvodstvo.ru/en/12-2017-2/, p. 12
You can order translation of the full text into English (kormoproiz@mail.ru).
