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. Oplemenjivanje lucerke u svetu je započeto početkom prošlog veka, a u Srbiji sredinom prošlog veka. Kontradiktorni rezultati o genetičkom doprinosu oplemenjivanja na prinos lucerke u svetu i kod nas su posledica analize prinosa iz različitih ogleda, na različitim lokacijama, kroz različite godine, zanemarujući interakciju germplazma x godina (starost lucerišta) i germplazma x okolina (ekološki uslovi vezani za lokalitet ili uslove u godini). U želji da se proceni napredak u oplemenjivanju lucerke na prinos u našoj zemlji upoređene su nove eksperimentalne populacije sa novim i starim sortama lucerke stvorenim u Institutu za ratarstvo i povrtarstvo u Novom Sadu. Ogled je zasnovan 2008. i praćen tokom 2008-2010. Razlike u prinosu između sorti i eksperimentalnih populacija lucerke nisu značajne. Nove programe oplemenjivanja lucerke treba fokusirati na prinos per se, primenom novih saznanja o genetičkoj kontroli prinosa, adaptacijom postojećih ili kreiranjem novih procedura oplemenjivanja.