Genetic gain in alfalfa breeding: Yield of experimental populations versus released cultivars

Alfalfa breeding programs in the world started at the beginning of the last century, while in Serbia they started in the middle of last century. The contradictory results on the genetic gain in alfalfa breeding for yield in the world and in our country had as a consequence the yield analysis from different experiments, in different locations, through different years neglecting the interaction germplasm x year (age of alfalfa fields), and germplasm by environment (ecological conditions related to site or conditions in the year). In order to assess the progress in breeding alfalfa for yield in our country, new experimental populations were compared with old and new alfalfa cultivars developed in the Institute of Field and Vegetable Crops Novi Sad, Serbia. Yield differences between cultivars and experimental populations of alfalfa were not significant. New alfalfa breeding programs should focus on yield per se, with the use of new knowledge on the genetic control of yield and with adaptation of existing or creating new breeding procedure.