Production of reed canary grass (Phalaris arundinacea L.) seed in Finland may be of interest in the near future. Seed production characters of cultivars Palaton and Venture were studied between 1995 and 1998 at Jokioinen. Effects of harvest time on seed yield, thousand seed weight and seed germination were evaluated for 'Palaton'. Seed yield varied from 2 to 432 kg ha-1, being only 100 kg ha-1 on average. In the years of highest seed yields the optimum harvest time was 15 days after complete anthesis. At that time high seed yield was associated with a low proportion of shattered seeds and high thousand seed weight and good seed germination. In an additional experiment, the effect of storage temperature and storage time on seed germination were investigated for 'Venture'. Storage temperature had no significant influence on final germination, but warmer storage significantly speeded up germination rate as recorded after 7 days of germination. After 7 days the percentage of germinated seeds was also significantly higher for seeds stored for >10 months than with seeds stored for
Traditionally reed canary grass (Phalaris arundinacea L.) has been cultivated for forage, but currently is a new non-food crop in northern Europe. The aim of this study was to evaluate reed canary grass germplasm, elite and wild populations, for non-food, forage and seed production. An index composed of different agronomic traits was used to establish the best populations for each end-use. Populations were also ranked according to biomass or seed yield only. Non-food cultivars have not yet been developed, but results from this study suggest that some high biomass forage cultivars could be used in non-food production. However, local populations possessed a desirable combination of traits, including higher proportion of straw associated with high biomass yield. This study indicated that local populations could be used in non-food crop breeding together with elite material. Some evidence for the potential of populations for forage production was also noted, mainly through leaf area and leaf proportion measurements. High non-food or forage indices were associated with good seed production in some populations. Results help in selecting appropriate cultivars for non-food use, which is currently important as the cultivated area of reed canary grass for biofuel in Finland is anticipated to be 75 000 hectares by 2010.;
Reed canary grass, Phalaris arundinacea L., is a relatively new biomass crop in northern Europe, which produces raw material for bioenergy and paper pulp. Breeding reed canary grass for industrial purposes is under way in the absence of domestic cultivars being available. Knowledge of the extent of variation in biomass related traits is a basic requirement of the breeding programme. The aim of this study was to describe variation in biomass related traits and evaluate the relationships among the variables. Field experiment was carried out between 1994 and 1998 in Finland. Research material included wild and elite populations, which were divided into ten groups according to their origin. Biomass yield, plant fractions, shoot number, node number, leaf area and overwintering ability were measured. Panicle number, plant height and seed ripening were included to the analyses of the relationships. Results indicated the high biomass yield potential of reed canary grass, reaching over 13 t DM ha -1 in the fourth year after establishment. Elite material and a local group from southern Finland had the highest biomass yield, whereas the northernmost local group had the lowest. Three factors established accounted for 45% of the variance and they were defined as "high biomass yield", "leaf-shoot relationship" and "fast development". The first factor indicated positive connections among biomass yield, panicle number, plant height, straw fraction and node fraction. This study indicated variation in agronomic traits of reed canary grass, which enables breeding of new cultivars with desired trait combinations.
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