FORAGE YIELD AND QUALITY OF PERENNIAL RYEGRASS (Lolium perenne L.) LINES IN THE BLACK SEA COASTAL AREA OF TURKEY

Abstract

In present study, perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) lines were developed by using the half sib family selection breeding method. The aim of this research was to determine the forage yield and quality of perennial ryegrass breeding lines. The experiment of design was a Randomized Complete Block Design with three replications in 2009-2011. In this research, significant differences were determined among dry matter yield (DMY) (420-629 kg/da), crude protein content (CPC) (9.43-12.09%), crude protein yield (CPY) (45.07-75.21 kg/da), acid detergent fiber (ADF) (37.24-40.36%), neutral detergent fiber (NDF) (55.31-58.52%), total digestible nutrient (TDN) (49.24-53.27%), relative feed value (RFV) (92.19-98.57%), potassium (0.44-0.71%), calcium (0.42-0.61%), magnesium (0.22-0.27%) and tetany ratio (0.85-1.38). According to results it was decided that 3, 13, 14 and 17 numbered perennial ryegrass lines were selected to test in Regional Yield Experiments.