Development of a Greek Phalaris aquatica L. cultivar for improvement of rangelands

Phalaris aquatica L. is a very productive and drought resistant perennial grass suitable for animal grazing in areas with a dry Mediterranean-type climate. In an effort to develop improved Phalaris aquatica cultivars adapted to dry conditions, a breeding program was initiated in the Forest Research Institute. It was based on a collection of 80 plants selected from representative regions of Greece (phenotypic selection), according to their leafness, number of flowering stems and late in the season flowering. The plants were transplanted and maintained in an isolation field located in Serres, Macedonia. Morphological and cytogenetic studies of these plants were performed in 1986. In 1989 two progeny tests were established, one for HS families and another for clone evaluation. After two years of measurements (1991 and 1992) genetic parameters for herbage production and number of flowering stems per plant were estimated. In this paper the last step for the development of a synthetic cultivar with a good balance between increased herbage yield and stems number is presented. This is the selection of 16 plants out of the original 80 with the best general combining ability for these traits in order to become the parents of the synthetic cultivar, named “Sarisa”. The procedure for the production of the breeder seed is also presented and the future plans are discussed.