Fifty Years of Ryegrass Research in New Zealand

Hunt, W. F.; Easton, H. S.

doi:10.33584/jnzg.1989.50.1876

Cited by 30 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 80 publications

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“…Levy (1932) was the fIrst to recognize the relatively short time period (60-80 yr) in which different plant types of ryegrass may evolve in response to different management practices, climates, and soil types. These and similar results led directly to the development of the fIrst certifIed forage grass cultivars, for New Zealand in 1930 (Hunt & Easton, 1989), and for Great Britain in the 1930s (Beddows, 1953). Similarly in Australia, perennial ryegrass introductions, naturalized over 80 to 100 yr, were superior to numerous introductions of diverse origin (Moodie, 1934).…”

Section: Methodical Selectionmentioning

confidence: 80%

Germplasm and Cultivar Development

Casler

Pedersen

Eizenga

et al. 2015

Agronomy Monographs

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Cool-season forage grasses have evolved, and continue to evolve, in natural ecosystems subject to environmental factors both in the presence and absence of human influences. The literature often lacks facts describing the evolution and domestication of forage grasses. Furthermore, the literature on this subject mainly deals with evolution of species in the broad scope, i.e., on a scale of hundreds of thousands or millions or years. Thus, some of our conclusions are necessarily speculative and are highly subject to the nature of the research that has been reported. We describe the forces of selection that act upon cool-season forage grasses and attempt to place each in historical perspective and in relation to each other. Because most economically important cool-season forage grasses are perennial, our principal focus will be on perennial species. There has been very little effort to quantify economic values of selection criteria or to empirically compare different breeding procedures in cool-season forage grasses. We attempt to summarize and compare some of the more important and thoroughly reported approaches used since the advent of formal breeding strategies in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. These selection criteria and breeding procedures are as varied as the individual researchers who developed them. Examples are cited to illustrate principles and phenomena of historical or practical importance. More details of the agriculturally important species are discussed in the later chapters of this book. Space limitations prevent 1 Common names for plants have been used throughout the chapter. Refer to the appendix for the scientific name.

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Section: Methodical Selectionmentioning

confidence: 80%

Germplasm and Cultivar Development

Casler

Pedersen

Eizenga

et al. 2015

Agronomy Monographs

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“…This paper presents results from small plot trials conducted throughout New Zealand comparing cultivars and breeding lines of perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne), the grass of choice for long-term pastures under fertile conditions in New Zealand (Hunt & Easton 1989;Easton et al 2011). The variables presented include DM yield, ground cover of ryegrass after 3 years, and resistance to plant pulling and rust.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating perennial ryegrass cultivars: improving testing

Kerr¹,

Chapman²,

Thom³

et al. 2012

ProNZG

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The agronomic performance of a range of perennial ryegrass cultivar-endophyte combinations was compared in 16 trials conducted at sites throughout New Zealand. Each trial was run for 3 years according to seed industry evaluation protocols, measuring variables including: dry matter (DM) yield (total annual and seasonal DM yield), ryegrass ground cover at the end of 3 years, susceptibility to plant pulling, and rust incidence. The change in DM yield over the 3-year term of each trial was also analysed. There were significant differences among cultivars in total annual DM yield, and in seasonal DM yield for each of the five periods of the year among which yield was split (winter, early spring, late spring, summer, and autumn). Mean annual yield declined between Year 1 and Year 3 in all regions except Taranaki, by between 0.8 t DM/ha (Canterbury) and 5.3 t DM/ha (Waikato). There were significant region, year, region × year, and cultivar × year interactions in yield change. Significant differences in ground cover score for perennial ryegrass at the end of 3 years were recorded among cultivars. However, these differences did not mirror on-farm observations of ryegrass persistence in the Waikato during the drought of 2007/08, suggesting that the standard trial protocols currently used do not adequately test persistence. It is recommended that industry cultivar testing needs to more accurately assess perennial ryegrass persistence, using new protocols including running trials on commercial farms, for more than 3 years, and using mixed swards. Genetic differences in persistence could be generated more quickly by choosing sites known to challenge perennial ryegrass growth and survival. Keywords: perennial ryegrass, cultivar evaluation, DM yield, persistence testing, plant pulling, rust

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“…Finally, breeding for high yield through selection or chromosome doubling has led to a tendency, in modern perennial ryegrass genetic lines, towards swards having a lower density of larger tillers (see e.g., Hunt and Easton, 1989; Van Loo, 1992; Bahmani et al, 1997). Concerns have been expressed by farmers and researchers about the poor persistence of these modern ryegrasses in pastures (Thom et al, 1998) Persistency of perennial ryegrass depends on the equilibrium between the relative rate of tiller initiation and tiller death (Langer, 1963) Breeding for increasing tiller size may therefore have restricted tillering ability of the selected genetic lines.…”

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confidence: 99%

Differences in Tillering of Long‐ and Short‐Leaved Perennial Ryegrass Genetic Lines under Full Light and Shade Treatments

et al. 2000

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There is uncertainty among plant breeders as to which characteristics to select for to optimize grass growth dynamics. The objective was to study the relationship between leaf length and tillering in perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.). Two long‐leaved and two short‐leaved genetic lines were grown in simulated shade and near‐full sunlight (control) environments. The genetic lines were New Zealand cultivars Ellett (long‐leaved) and Grasslands Ruanui (short‐leaved), both early flowering. The other two were late‐flowering divergent selections ‘LL’ (long‐leaved) and ‘SL’ (short‐leaved). Differences between genetic lines in leaf length were attributable mainly to higher leaf elongation rate (LER) in the two long‐leaved genetic lines, and leaf elongation duration (LED) did not differ significantly between genetic lines. Grasslands Ruanui had a higher tiller number per plant than Ellett in both light environments, explained by higher site filling but similar leaf appearance rate (AL). In contrast, LL had a higher tiller number per plant than SL, arising from a higher AL in LL. This difference decreased during the experiment under the control treatment because SL tended to have a higher site filling ratio than LL. However, in the shade treatment, differences in tiller number between LL and SL were more mediated by AL than site filling. Therefore, selection for high LER and long lamina length, even though associated with reduced site filling in all treatments, did not necessarily result in reduced tiller number per plant.

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Fifty Years of Ryegrass Research in New Zealand

Cited by 30 publications

References 80 publications

Germplasm and Cultivar Development

Germplasm and Cultivar Development

Evaluating perennial ryegrass cultivars: improving testing

Differences in Tillering of Long‐ and Short‐Leaved Perennial Ryegrass Genetic Lines under Full Light and Shade Treatments

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