Identification of creeping foxtail germplasm with high dry matter yield and nutritive value

Authors: Robins, Joseph; Jensen, Kevin

Submitted to: Crop Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/4/2010
Publication Date: 1/27/2011
Citation: Robins, J.G. and K.B. Jensen, 2011. Identification of creeping foxtail germplasm with high dry matter yield and nutritive value. Crop Science. 51:728-735.

Interpretive Summary: Creeping foxtail (Alopecurus arundinaceus Poir.) is widely used as a forage source on wet meadows and pastures in the USA. Yet, producers are faced with limited options for cultivar choice with only the cultivar Garrison being commonly available. Garrison, while a good cultivar, does not provide optimal agronomic performance. To identify sources of creeping foxtail with improved agronomic performance, we characterized the performance of 47 lines of creeping foxtail and compared their performance to that of the cultivars Garrison and Retain. The evaluation occurred at a farm near Richmond, UT, occurred over three years. Lines with improved agronomic performance were identified for most traits, including dry matter yield and neutral detergent fiber digestibility. These lines will now be incorporated into an improvement program leading to the release of enhanced creeping foxtail cultivars.

Technical Abstract: While creeping foxtail (Alopecurus arundinaceus Poir.) is widely grown in wet meadow and pastures throughout temperate regions of the USA and world, only the cultivars 'Garrison' and 'Retain' have been developed in the USA. These cultivars represent a narrow genetic base and substantial improvement of creeping foxtail may be realized by incorporating additional germplasm resources into a cultivar development program. The study described herein compared the agronomic and nutritive value of 47 creeping foxtail accessions to that of Garrison and Retain in a field study conducted over two production years at a site near Richmond, UT, USA. The effect of accessions was separated into the component due to the region of origin and the component due to the accession per se. Differences were limited among region of origin, although significant differences (P<0.05) occurred for dry matter yield and in vitro true digestibility. The US cultivars had the numerically highest dry matter yield (116 g plot-1) and the Mongolian accessions (95 g kg-1) had higher in vitro true digestibility than the other regions. Differences among the individual accessions occurred for all traits but rhizome spread. A group of seven accessions from Afghanistan, Iran, Russia, and Turkey exhibited high dry matter yield and neutral detergent fiber digestibility. These accessions could be combined with the cultivar Garrison to develop a broad base population for further creeping foxtail improvement and cultivar development.