The current paper has presented an overview of the work of the laboratory for breeding and seed production of perennial grasses of the ARC “Donskoy” over a ten-year period. There has been presented a brief history of the development of the laboratory from the moment of its establishment to the present day. The main purpose of the work in this period was the breeding, reproduction, introduction into production of the new alfalfa and sainfoin varieties with a wide range of resistance to various stress factors with high productivity of forage and seeds. In the collection farms of alfalfa there have been tested and agro biologically estimated more than 600 varieties from the world collection of VIR, other research institutions and local hybrids. Based on this work there have been developed an initial material with a wide variability of economically-biological useful characters using the methods of hybridization and selection. The best lines and hybrids were included in the complex hybrid populations, which became the basis for the development of the new alfalfa varieties ‘Selyanka’ (2013) and ‘Golubka’ (2019). Throughout the history of the laboratory, great attention was paid to the development of the new sainfoin varieties, as a result of which there were zoned such varieties as ‘Severokavkazky dvuukosny’ (1947), ‘Zernogradsky 2’ (1998), ‘Zernogradsky 3’ (2001), ‘Atamansky’ (2004), ‘Veles’ (2010). Over the past ten years, there were developed the sainfoin varieties ‘Sudar’ (2013) and ‘Shuravi’ (2019) protected by a patent, the varieties undergone the State Variety Testing, were included into the State List of Breeding Achievements approved for use in several regions of the Russian Federation. There has been given a brief description of the current problems of breeding and primary seed production of perennial grasses, as well as the directions of the laboratory's work to solve them. There has been presented the publication activity of the researchers of the laboratory.
Alfalfa and sainfoin have always been the main perennial fodder legumes in the south of Russia. Because of their economic and biological properties, crop and fodder production have always relied on their cultivation and will rely on it in the future. Insufficient cultivated areas of these legumes make it impossible to provide livestock with balanced feed, to use climatic, soil and plant resources rationally. The study of the varietal composition of alfalfa and sainfoin developed in the FSBSI “Agricultural Research Center “Donskoy” showed that the productivity potential of these varieties makes it possible to obtain a fairly high yields of forage under various weather-climatic conditions. For 6 years the average yield of green mass of the standard variety “Rostovskaya 90” was 27.0 t/ha in the first cutting and 18.1 t/ha in the second cutting, and in the total for two cuttings it is 45.1 t/ha. In the first cutting for 5 years out of 6, the green mass productivity of the alfalfa varieties “Lyutsiya” and “Selyanka” significantly exceeded the standard variety. On average for two cuttings, green mass productivity of the varieties “Lyutsiya” (47.8 t/ha) and “Selyanka” (48.9 t/ha) was higher than that of the standard variety. The yield of absolutely dry matter of the standard variety “Rostovskaya 90” varied from 6.7 t/ha to 7.7 t/ha in the first cutting and from 4.3 t/ha to 5.2 t/ha in the second cutting. The yield of absolutely dry matter of the alfalfa varieties “Lyutsiya” and “Selyanka” reliably exceeded the standard variety in the first cutting, but in the second cutting their yield was equal to the yield of the standard variety. According to the green mass yield of one cutting, the studied varieties of sainfoin were as good as the alfalfa productivity in the first cutting. The green mass productivity of the standard variety “Zernogradsky 2” ranged from 24.4 to 31.1 t/ha, the green mass productivity of the sainfoin variety “Veles” ranged from 26.8 t/ha to 39.4 t/ha, and the green mass productivity of the variety “Sudar” ranged from 28.8 t/ha to 33.3 t/ha. The dry matter productivity of the sainfoin varieties developed in a similar way. The minimum dry matter productivity of the standard variety “Zernogradsky 2” was 6.1 t/ha, the maximum was 7.8 t/ha. The minimum dry matter productivity of the variety “Veles” was 6.7 t/ha and the maximum was 9.8 t/ha. The minimum dry matter productivity of the variety “Sudar” was 7.2 t/ha and the maximum was 8.8 t/ha. In total for 2 cuttings, the alfalfa varieties produced 7.45–8.12 thousand of fodder units, 2.29–2.57 t/ha of raw protein and 1.59–1.78 t/ha of digestible protein. The varieties “Lyutsiya” and “Selyanka” showed a higher yield of nutrients, compared with the standard variety. The nutrient productivity of the studied sainfoin varieties slightly yielded to the alfalfa varieties in the first cutting. On average they produced 3.89–4.55 thousand of fodder units per hectare, 1.34–1.55 t/ha of raw protein and 0.93–1.11 t/ha of digestible protein. In comparison with the standard variety “Zernogradsky 2”, the sainfoin varieties “Veles” and “Sudar” had a greater productivity of nutrients.
Alfalfa is the most valuable forage crop spread all over the world. Due to the varietal diversity of alfalfa in the countries of North America, the laboratory of breeding and seed-growing of perennial grasses of the FSBSI “Agricultural Research Center “Donskoy” conducted the experiments over 27 samples of American and Canadian breeding to find genetic sources of economic and biological traits. The field trials were conducted according to generally accepted methods for forage crops in 2016–2018. The area of experimental plots was 1 m2 with double sequence. The period “beginning of spring germination” and “beginning of flowering” were studied depending on the climatic conditions of the year. In 2016 and 2017 spring germination took place in March, and in 2018 it was in the 1-st decade of April. Beginning of flowering in the studied samples ranged from the 3-d decade of May to the 1-st decade of June. On average, over 3 years, the number of days in the period “beginning of spring germination – beginning of flowering” varied from 68 to 73 days. This period of the standard variety was 72 days. The studied samples had this period on 1–4 days shorter, excluding the samples “K-33299” and “K-42249” (73 days). According to the yield of green mass, none of the samples reliably exceeded the standard variety “Rostovskaya 90” (3.29 kg/m2). The studied alfalfa samples formed 1.57–3.5 kg/m2 of green mass. According to the plant foliage amount, the indicators of the studied samples varied from 42 to 49%. The samples “K-33299” and “K-43272” with 49% of foliage amount slightly exceeded the standard variety “Rostovskaya 90” (48%). The hay yield of the studied samples varied from 31 to 40%, “K-43272” formed the smallest indicator (31%), “K-42249” and “K-45715” (40%) produced the largest amount and when the hay productivity of the standard variety was 35%. There have been identified reliable correlations between the yield of green mass and hay, as well as between the yield of green mass and the number of days during the period “beginning of spring germination – beginning of flowering”.
A significant part of perennial legumes seeds, including alfalfa, after ripening, has a seed coat nonpermeable for water and air, and therefore they do not germinate immediately after sowing. This property is called seed hardness. The purpose of our research was to study seed hardness of the alfalfa samples in the collection of the FSBSI “ARC “Donskoy” depending on the seed storage time. The seed hardness of the studied varieties after 1 month of storage ranged from 31 to 74% on average for two years. The varieties “Sonora 76” (the USA) and “Stavropolskaya 430” (Russia) possessed the highest value of the studied trait (62% and 74%, respectively). The seed hardness of the standard variety “Rostovskaya 90” was 49.5%. After 6 months of storage, the percentage of seed hardness in all studied varieties significantly decreased. The studied indicator of the standard variety “Rostovskaya 90” decreased to 24%. The varieties “Smuglyanka” (Ukraine), “Zvezdochka” (Russia), “Veko” (Canada), “Admiral” (Canada), “Verta+” (Canada), “AZNIHI-5” (Azerbaijan), “Tashkentskaya 1” (Uzbekistan), “Karlygash” (Kazakhstan) with the indicators from 7% to 13% had a significantly lower percentage of seed hardness compared with the standard variety. The varieties “Sonora 76” (USA) and “Stavropolskaya 430” (Russia), with seed hardness of 38.5% and 49%, respectively, significantly exceeded the standard variety “Rostovskaya 90”. After 12 months of storage, seed hardness of the studied varieties ranged from 4 to 22.5%. The indicator for this trait of the variety, taken as a standard was 16.5%. A significantly lower percentage of seed hardness (from 3% to 10%) was in 12 studied varieties, the lowest indicator was shown by the variety “Zvezdochka” (Russia). The two varieties “Sonora 76” (USA) and “Stavropolskaya 430” (Russia) showed a significant excess with indicators of 21.5% and 22.5%, respectively.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.