Page 130 - Plant Canada 2024 Proceeding

PLANT CANADA 2024

[O56] PROGRESS IN OAT BREEDING IN NORTH CHINA. Junyong Ge , Xingyu Wang , Yunxia Li ,
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Zhanhong Dong , Haige Zhao , Huadong Zang , Yadong Yang , and Zhaohai Zeng . Zhangjiakou
Academy of Agricultural Sciences (Hebei Alpine Crops Institute), 2 Huitong Street, Zhangjiakou City,
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Hebei Province, 075000, China; and College of Agronomy and Biotechnology, China Agricultural
University, 2 Yuanmingyuan West Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100193, China
Correspondence to: gejunyong1987@163.com

Oats are commonly grown in North China, and the naked (hulless) type of oats are predominant in the
region. In the past ten years, our breeding program have carried out research activities to focus on two
major issues affecting seed yield of naked oats. The first breeding objective is to increase ear size of oats
and improve grain harvest index. The second breeding objective is to reduce plant height and increase
resistance to lodging, thereby achieving increased density and high yield potential. The number of
spikelets in some large-ear type oat breeding progeny materials has reached 70-131, and the number of
grains per panicle can reach 140-264, which are more than 20% higher than the control varieties. One of
the stable offsprings of the strain, Bayou No. 21, had the seed yield of 6935 kg ha in 2023, which was
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more than 15% higher than the same type of control varieties. The offspring of dwarf naked oat breeding
materials have a plant height of 70~90 cm, which is more than 30% shorter than existing varieties, and
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compared with the same type of control varieties, the yield increase is 2300 kg ha , with the yield
increase rate of more than 35%. These advances have laid some material reserves for the next step in
dealing with the rapidly changing climate and an increasing population.

[O57] DETERMINING OPTIMUM SEEDING RATIOS AND PEA-BRASSICA INTERCROP

COMBINATIONS FOR MAXIMIZING AGRONOMIC BENEFITS. Yunfei Jiang and Claude Caldwell.
Department of Plant, Food, and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, Dalhousie University,
50 Pictou Road, Truro, NS, Canada B2N 5E3
Correspondence to: yunfei.jiang@dal.ca

Evidence from both natural ecosystems and agroecosystems reveal that species richness increases plant
reproductive potential and productivity. This is mechanistically linked to biodiversity and enhanced
resource acquisition due to species complementarity, competition, cooperation, and compensation.
Intercropping allows for simultaneous cultivation of multiple crop species or genotypes in the same field
during a growing season or a part of the growing season, which is a promising strategy for ecological
intensification for improving sustainability. Local adoption of intercrops depends on defining the optimum
combinations of crops for maximizing environmental and economic benefits. The objective of this study
was to evaluate intercrop performance of two brassica species [camelina (Camelina sativa) and brown
mustard (Brassica juncea)] with peas (Pisum sativum) to determine the optimum intercrop mix for
maximizing Land Equivalent Ratio (LER) for seed yield profitability in Maritime Canada. Combinations of
three seeding rates of peas with three seeding rates of either camelina or mustard at 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 times of
the recommended seeding rate for each species were evaluated. In addition, each species was grown
separately to determine its sole yield at its recommended seeding rate – 100, 600, and 100 seeds/m for
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pea, camelina, and brown mustard, respectively. Our results showed that these brassica and pea
intercrops were consistently providing LER greater than 1, indicating greater land use efficiency
compared to the sole crop. Despite different growing conditions in 2020 and 2022, the most effective
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seeding rate ratios appear consistent - 600/150 seeds/m for camelina-pea intercrops and 50/150
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seeds/m for mustard-pea intercrops. Consistent positive LERs resulting from most of the combinations
indicate there is promise for this approach in Maritime agriculture. Our findings will be used to strategically
design plant mixtures to improve environmental and economic sustainability.

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