GENOTYPE × ENVIRONMENT INTERACTIONS IN SMOOTH BROMEGRASS. II. MORPHOLOGICAL CHARACTERS AND THEIR ASSOCIATIONS WITH FORAGE YIELD
The parents and progenies of a 7 × 7 diallel cross of smooth bromegrass (Bromus inermis Leyss.) were evaluated for the genetic variability of some morphological characters and their associations with yield, at four locations in Alberta in 1976 and 1977. Locations, years and their interactions were highly significant for all characters and were subsequently treated as eight environments. The partition of the genotypic variance into general combining ability (GCA) and specific combining ability (SCA) showed that for all morphological characters, GCA was more important than SCA, indicating the importance of additive genetic effects. The genotype × environment (GE) interactions were highly significant. Variation accounted for by GCA was generally higher than the interaction effects of GCA and SCA with environments. Phenotypic and genotypic correlation coefficients revealed that both tiller density and height were significantly correlated with yields. Path coefficient analysis also showed that tiller density, followed by leaf area and tiller dry weight, exerted the greatest direct influence on yield. Selection for large leaf area and more and heavier tillers per unit area would simultaneously increase bromegrass productivity. Furthermore, selection should be based on multi-year and multi-location tests.