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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Madison, Wisconsin » U.S. Dairy Forage Research Center » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #61601

Title: RECURRENT PHENOTYPIC SELECTION FOR SEED SIZE IN KURA CLOVER

Author
item Smith, Richard

Submitted to: Agronomy Abstracts
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/26/1995
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: The perennial forage legume, kura clover (Trifolium ambiguum L.), has many advantages as a pasture legume in the temperate regions of the world. However, a major disadvantage of kura clover is poor or slow initial establishment. Increasing seed size in other legumes has been successful in enhancing initial establishment. This research reports that two cycles of recurrent phenotypic selection for seed size in six hexaploid plant introductions of kura clover increased seed weight from 1.76 g 1000-1 seeds to 2.24 g. When seeded at the rate of 10.5 kg ha-1, twice as many seedlings of the large-seeded population were established in contrast to the control population (286 vs. 143 seedlings m-1 sq, respectively). Seedling year forage yield was similar for the selected and unselected populations, but by the fall of the seedling year the selected population had an 83% stand in contrast to 35% for the control population.