HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Robertson, L. D. Articles by Frey, K. J. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Robertson, L. D. Articles by Frey, K. J. Agricola Articles by Robertson, L. D. Articles by Frey, K. J.

Honeycomb Design for Selection among Homozygous Oat Lines¹

The honeycomb design has been proposed for evaluating the yielding ability of single plants of small grains. The objective of this study was to assess the effectiveness of selection for grain yield via grain, adjusted grain, and biomass yields of single plants grown in a honeycomb design. Materials were 236 F₁₀-derived lines of oats from a broad-based bulk population. They were tested as individual plants in two replicates of the honeycomb design in each of five environments and as lines in a hill-plot experiment with three replicates in each of three environments. Mean yields from the latter experiment were used as the standard for measuring selection effectiveness. Pooled correlations for grain, adjusted grain, and biomass yields of single plants with grain yield of oat lines measured in hill plots were 0.29 ± 0.06, 0.27 ± 0.06, and 0.37 ± 0.06, respectively. With a 10% selection intensity, the actual gain in grain yield (expressed as a percentage of the hill-plot population mean) of oat lines averaged 9.8 ± 0.05, 8.3 ± 0.06, and 11.0 ± 0.05, respectively, when grain, adjusted grain, and biomass yields of single plants were the selection criteria. Discarding of the lowest 10, 25, and 50% of plants for grain, adjusted grain, and biomass resulted in the average retention of 97, 90, and 70%, respectively, of the top decile of oat lines for grain yield. Our results suggest that selecting for grain or biomass yield of oat plants grown in a noncompetitive field arrangement can identify higher yielding oat lines. Selection for biomass gave about one-seventh more gain than did selection for grain yield. Adjustment of grain yield of a plant according to the mean of six neighboring plants in the honeycomb design reduced the predicted gains from selection.

Key Words: Grain yield • Adjusted grain yield • Biomass • Single plant selection • Avena sativa L.

² Vicia faba breeder, Int. Ctr. for Agric. Res. in the Dry Areas, Aleppo, Syria; C. F. Curtiss distinguished professor in Agriculture, Iowa State Univ., Ames, IA 50011, respectively.

Received for publication April 28, 1987.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				E. Traka-Mavrona, D. Georgakis, M. Koutsika-Sotiriou, and T. Pritsa An Integrated Approach of Breeding and Maintaining an Elite Cultivar of Snap Bean Agron. J., September 1, 2000; 92(5): 1020 - 1026. [Abstract] [Full Text]