Hybridization in genetic improvement of white oat crop: techniques and factors that interfere in the efficiency of directed crosses

Abstract

Different techniques of artificial hybridization have been adopted in white oat breeding programs in search of superior genotypes. This way, the objective of this study was to verify the effectiveness of artificial crosses adopting different hybridization methods and conditions, and to analyze the relationship between the environmental conditions at the moment of artificial hybridizations and cross efficiency. During the year 2008, 400 artificial crosses were performed among white oat cultivars, and two methods of hybridization were tested, varying the number of pollinated florets and the interval between pollination and emasculation. The best efficiency rate in the hybridizations was achieved with the
pollination of six florets per panicle, performing the pollination four days after emasculation using the cut flower technique, or in the range of one to four days with the open flower technique. Moreover, lower temperatures and higher relative humidity at the moment of emasculation show relationship with the increase in the efficiency of hybridizations.