Evaluation of potential varieties of winter oats for improved economic competitiveness

Abstract

Excellent progress was made in developing good all-round competitive varieties of husked winter oats for human and animal consumption. Earlier work that resulted in the release of the varieties Gerald, Chamois, Emperor, Viscount and Kingfisher has brought benefits to growers and end-users, in terms of increased competitiveness, ease of production and quality. Two closely related lines 87-42CnI/2/2/1 and 87-42CnI/2/2/2, the culmination of a complex series of crosses initiated in 1980, were entered into 1997 NL1 trials. 87-42CnI/2/2/1 proceeded to 1998 NL2 trials and was named Millennium, as an expression of IGER's confidence that this variety represents a major improvement in the oat crop.