Forage potential of wild populations of perennial ryegrass collected from southern New Zealand farms

A ryegrass breeding programme to improve the cool season activity and summer quality of perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L,) in southern regions was initiated in 1986. One of the strategies assessed wild ryegrass populations from 50 dairy and sheep farms in Southland, West Otago and Westland. The plants were collected and evaluated as spaced plants in a high and low fertility site at DSIR Grasslands Gore in comparison with current ryegrass cultivars. Principal Component Analysis was used to order the performance of the ryegrass populations in relation to the observed characters of seasonal growth, tillering, crown rust infection, recurrent ear emergence and endophyte presence. Ihe collection consisted of many short-leaved densely tillered prostrate plants with high levels of crown rust infection and recurrent flowering. In comparison the cultivars had fewer, but larger tillers, rapid leaf extension and good rust tolerance. There were no strong distinguishing features between plants from dairy and sheep farms and 30% of plants had no endophyte. Selected ecotypes hybridised with New Zealand and European cultivars produced plants with better cool season growth and summer quality than standard cultivars. The ecotype germplasm is an important source in the development of new cultivars suited to the southern region.