High Phytomass Producing Oats for Cultivation in Northern Growing Conditions

It has been argued that the breeding of cultivars with higher weight per panicle but constant phytomass (i.e., improved harvest index) is unlikely to improve grain yield of cereals in the future. To examine this question in oats, this study observed relationships between above-ground phytomass production and grain yield as well as 18 morphological and physiological traits representing maturity class and architecture of oat stand. The study was conducted in two dissimilar growing seasons. Material consisted of 29 Finnish and Scandinavian oat cultivars and breeding lines. Correlations between phytomass and other traits were evaluated by linear regression analysis. The study revealed that there has already been a trend toward improving the above-ground phytomass production in cereal breeding in Finland. The phytomass elevation can be attributed to both higher panicle weight as well as increased above-ground vegetative phytomass. Thus, improved grain yield of oats is not merely a consequence of increased harvest index, as is often mentioned, but is also a result of higher phytomass as such. The weight of the above-ground phytomass did not correlate with undesirable traits such as plant height or susceptibility to lodging, but it did have a positive relationship with days to yellow ripening. The applicability of phytomass weight in indirect yield breeding of oats in the northern growing conditions is discussed.