Forage breeding is key to improving livestock management and the objective of this study was to evaluate Pearson's simple correlation between the yield components of forage dry matter and grain in ryegrass. Five ryegrass genotypes, planted on five dates and cut from one to four times, were set out in a complete randomized block design. Ryegrass forage with a lower dry matter production, but with more leaves, fewer culms, higher protein and less fiber content, produces a higher grain yield, spike length, thousand grain weight and lower spike number. The association between the yields of dry matter and grain components is an important criterion for selecting ryegrass genotypes, since grain yield is positively correlated with leaf dry matter, gross protein content, spike length and thousand grain weight.
linear correlation; spike; plant breeding; Lolium multiflorum; crude protein
