| Summary: | Two experiments were conducted in 1994 and 1995 to compare the field performance of photoperiod sensitive (PS) and photoperiod insensitive (PI) oat (Avena sativa L) genotypes. In the first experiment, bulks of PS and PI lines from four covered oat crosses, as well as the cultivars Sylva, Newman, the PI naked oat cultivar AC Lotta and the breeding line NO820-3L were tested at seven locations across Quebec and Ontario. The second experiment was a seeding. date trial performed at Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue in which individual PS and PI lines of three covered oat crosses were utilized. In the multi-location experiment, the PI genotypes generally reached the different growth stages significantly earlier. At Normandin, Quebec the northernmost site, PS genotypes had consistently higher yields than the PI genotypes. At one southern site (Elora, Ontario), PI bulks yielded more than their PS counterparts. The PS genotypes sometimes had higher leaf numbers in most of the seven locations. In the experiment with different seeding dates, the PS lines had significantly higher numbers of leaves, biomass, grain weight per plant, harvest index, and yield compared to the PI lines. The response of the PS and PI lines to delayed sowing was similar. There was a progressive reduction in the number of days to reach Zadoks' 30, heading, and maturity: and a reduction in height, above-ground biomass, and yield with delayed sowing. Number of culms, leaves, and fertile culms, and harvest index were not affected by delayed sowing. Based on the results of these experiments, it seems that the Di1 gene does not confer any consistent yield advantage or disadvantage. Nevertheless, there may be some northern environments for which photoperiod sensitive oat genotypes are better suited.
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