Certain aspects of breeding forage brassicas

Abstract

Numerous species belonging to the family Brassicaceae Burnett, popularly known as brassicas, are multi-purpose crops used not only for various industrial purposes and human consumption, but also in animal feeding. Among the most significant fodder brassicas are those that are grown for forage, such as fodder kale (Brassica oleracea L. var. viridis L.), rapeseed (Brassica napus L. var. napus), hybrid Perko PVH (Brassica napus L. var. napus x Brassica rapa subsp. chinensis (L.) Hanelt), turnip rape (Brassica rapa L. subsp. oleifera (DC.) Metzg.), white mustard (Sinapis alba L. subsp. alba) and brown mustard (Brassica juncea (L.) Czern.). All of these play an important role in diverse forage crop rotations, with the autumn-sown ones much appreciated in environmentally friendly production, ecological services, organic farming and sustainable agriculture. Due to their ability to produce abundant above ground biomass, forage brassicas may also be grown as cover crops and for green manure and grazing. Among the traits of great significance for developing new forage brassica cultivars are plant height, number of stems and lateral branches per plant, number of leaves per plant and other forage yield components, fresh forage yield and forage dry matter yield per plant and area unit, earliness and tolerance to low temperatures, drought and other forms of abiotic and biotic stresses. The methods of breeding forage brassicas include mass and individual selection from local landraces, usually characterised by a wide genetic variability of desirable traits, and various methods of selection from hybrid populations, with emphasis upon bulk and pedigree methods.