Analysis of oat seed yield and related agronomic characteristics in semi-arid regions

In this study, 19 Avena sativa varieties (lines) were selected for yield-related traits, and correlation, path, gray correlation, and cluster analysis methods were used to explore the influencing factors of oat seed yield and screen oat germplasm with excellent comprehensive traits in the semi-arid region of central Gansu Province. The results showed that the oat seed yield was 3283.33～5833.33 kg·ha⁻¹, among which ‘Cinskinaly’ had the highest yield. Seed yield was positively correlated with thousand seed weight and number of spike (P < 0.01) as well as grain weight per plant (P < 0.05), but it was negatively correlated with plant height (P < 0.05). The path analysis results showed that grain number per spike, grain weight per plant, and thousand seed weight were important factors to determine the seed yield. The 19 oat materials were divided into 4 groups via cluster analysis: The first group could be used as forage resources for screening and utilization. The second type was suitable for high yield, in addition to lodging resistant seed producing varieties. The third type was the optimum naked oat material. However, the production adaptability and field performance of Class Ⅳ were poor and could be directly eliminated. Two naked oat lines, namely, ‘201006-01-01-9’ and ‘201003-06-5’ and one hulled oat line, that is, ‘201113-03-05’, with better comprehensive performance, were selected and promoted to the regional test in Gansu Province.