New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research abstracts

---

Evaluating pasture breeding objectives using computer models

J. R. DONNELLY
M. FREER
A. D. MOORE

CSIRO Division of Plant Industry
Canberra, ACT 2601
Australia

Abstract  The advent of generic pasture growth models, where biological responses are represented mechanistically rather than by empirical regressions, provides plant breeders with powerful new tools for assessing the potential impact of their breeding objectives on the profitability of grazing systems. The use of the GRAZPLAN computer models for evaluating breeding strategies is illustrated with case studies for enhanced winter growth and reduced maturation rate, and the benefit of increasing the legume content of a pasture. These examples show that the effect of pasture improvement on profitability will usually depend on whether grazing management is adjusted to take advantage of the improvement.

Keywords  pasture breeding; computer models; winter growth; maturation rate; legume content

New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research, 1994, Vol. 37: 269-275

0028-8233/94/3703-0269 $2.50/0 (c) The Royal Society of New Zealand 1994

PDF file of entire paper: medium quality (529K); (scanned from paper original: notes about this process)

---

This year's abstracts | Journal home page | All abstracts | Publishing home page