Abstract:
In order to comprehensively evaluate the agronomy, yield, and quality traits of alfalfa hybrid combination, 16 hybrid combinations(M01-M16) of 16 excellent male and male sterile line MS-JN as maternal parents of alfalfa were cultivated, the main agronomic traits(leaf length, leaf width, plant height, number of branches, fresh weight per plant, dry weight per plant, fresh-to-dry ratio) and quality traits(crude fat, crude fiber, neutral wash fiber, acid wash fiber, moisture, dry matter, ash, crude protein, leaf-to-stem ratio) of the hybrid materials were evaluated comprehensively by the combined methods of variance analysis, cluster analysis, correlation analysis and grey correlation analysis. The results showed that there were differences in agronomy, yield, traits and quality traits among 16 alfalfa hybrid combinations. The cluster analysis of grass agronomic traits, yield traits showed that M01(New Star) was classified as class Ⅰ. By cluster analysis of quality traits, M14(Knight T) and M13(Khan) were classified as class Ⅰ. Plant height and number of branches were positively correlated with fresh weight per plant and dry weight per plant(P≤0.05 or P≤0.01). The relative feeding value of M10(Bai Mu 401) was 190.83 and the feed grading index was 20.42, both of which were high. The comprehensive performance was also good. M02(Cansai Ⅰ) had the highest equal and weighted correlation, and the comprehensive performance of various characters was outstanding. These results indicated that the plant height and number of branches could be used as important indexes for breeding alfalfa with high yield. M02(Kansai Ⅰ) showed outstanding comprehensive performance and could be used as excellent seed resource material for breeding new alfalfa varieties.