Screening Test of Maize Varieties in Mountainous Arid Areas

Drought and water shortage are the biggest limiting factors of dry farming,and variety plays an important role in an increase in the yield of dryland maize.Screening high-yield maize varieties is helpful to the continuous increase and stable yield of dryland grain.In this experiment,the growth period,characters and yield of 12 maize varieties were analyzed.The results show that the yield of Ganyu series was low,while the yield of Lianda 169 was the highest(8 080.93 kg/ha),which was 31.40% higher than Jinsui 4.The yield of Dunyu 16 was6 621.06 kg/ha,7.64% higher than Jinsui 4.The two varieties had good comprehensive characters,so they could be popularized and planted in dry farming areas of Lanzhou City.

Variety Comparison between Domestic Alfalfa and Introduced Alfalfa

[ Objective] To explore the growth characteristics of domestic and introduced alfalfa varieties and provide scientific guidance for the intro- duction of superior alfalfa varieties. [Method] A total of 17 domestic and introduced alfalfa varieties were selected. Through a three-year compari- son of varieties, their biological characters, plant height, branch density, fresh forage yield, leaf stem ratio and other traits were detected and ana- lyzed. [ Result] All the tested alfalfa went through the cold winter between 2006 and 2008 and could finish the reproductive cycle. The forage yield per plant and the plant height of the domestic alfalfa varieties were the highest, but their branching ability and the leaf stem ratio were lower. The European alfalfa varieties had strong branching capability, and the leaf yield of the American alfalfa varieties was the highest. [ Conclusion] The do- mestic alfalfa varieties have suoerior oerformances, while the introduced alfalfa varieties have better aualities.

Analysis of yield and quality characteristics of winter oilseed rape in China from 2001 to 2015: towards future breeding goals

The exciting outcomes of national regional trials have led to production and industrialization of China oilseed rape to a larger extent. To understand current trends of yield and quality traits of new varieties, data of national winter oilseed rape trials from 2001 to 2015 in 4 districts （upper, middle, lower Yangtze River and Huang-Huai River） was comprehensively analyzed. Results showed that average yield of new varieties of winter oilseed rape increased during the study period. In 2013, average yield of each district reached its highest level. Number of pod per plant reached its peak in 2011 and then declined rapidly in the next 4 years. Average number of seeds per pod did not signif-cantly changed in any districts. Moreover, 1,000 seeds weight increased most obviously in Huang-Huai River district. After 2007, new oilseed rape varieties encountered the dou-ble-low quality （i.e., low erucic acid and low glucosinolate）. In addition, oil content of new oilseed rape varieties increased over 15 years period and average oil content of all tested varieties during 2006-2015 was 42.96%, which was 2.38% higher than in 2005. Future breeding goals should be set to further improve yield, oil content, oil quality （such as high oleic acid and low saturated fatty acids）, achieve full mechanization of oilseed rape pro-duction process and develop ideotypes.