Evaluation of Seed Yield and Yield Components in Iranian Landraces and Foreign Varieties of Tall Fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.)

Tall fescue is a cool season grass widely distributed and adapted to different environmental conditions of Iran. Superior seed-yielding potential of the plant is an important criterion during the seed reproduction phases of breeding new cultivars and as well under commercial seed production conditions. In order to evaluate germplasm and investigate the pattern of genetic variation of seed traits in the crop, 46 accessions (local and foreign cultivars) were made to germinate in greenhouse and were then transplanted into the field in the form of a replicated design. Significant differences were observed for all the studied traits indicating broad variation in germplasm. The range of genotypic coefficients of variability varied from 14.78 (for panicle length) to 42.04 (for seed yield) showing high rate of variation. The estimates of broad sense heritability for all traits were more than 60 percent except for flag leaf width and flag leaf length. Applying cluster analysis on the studied attributes, five groups of clusters were obtained. Entries and accessions with same country were clustered in the same groups. The results could be useful in choosing genetically distinct populations for improving high seed cultivars, synthetics, and development of useful populations for future breeding projects.