Department of Forage Research, Haryana Agricultural University, Hissar
Online published on 25 January, 2012.
Genetic studies revealed that plant height, number of tillers/plant, number of leaves/plant and leaf breadth are important component characters for green as well as dry fodder yield. Studies on combining ability using line × tester and diallel analyses has helped in identifying the best general combiners and crosses. The crosses so selected were subjected to biparental mating. This study helped in identifying plants of early type, more plant height, suggesting the effective use of above technique in the yield improvement of oat.
Experiments conducted for the last three years indicated that the oat varieties when subjected to the multicut programme gives 7 to 25% more green fodder yield (2.0–11.0% more dry fodder yield). Research needs to be intensified to identify genotypes with better regeneration capacity. Importance of breeding for dual purpose oat varieties has also been discussed.
In forages, any improvement in yield must accompany an improvement in quality as it is ultimately the animal performance which is going to matter much. In oats, emphasis is needed on digestibility, digestible dry matter and protein content. Studies conducted at this University revealed that large amount of variability is present for these characters. Further, it has been observed that stem portion in oat is much more fibrous indicating low digestibility than leaves. It is suggested that in the varietal improvement programme greater emphasis should be given to the number of leaves per plant and leaf breadth for simultaneous improvement of both forage quality and quantity.
