Abstract
Improvement of cold-tolerance of Italian ryegrass(Lo1ium multiflorum L.) is an important breeding objectivefor enlargement of cultivation area in Korea. To develop the cold-tolerant variety of Italian ryegrass,cold-tolerant clones survived under - 13- - 14$^{\circ}$C of minimum average air temperature in January wereselected in the area of Dun Nae, Kwangwon Province. The 5 lines of Italian ryegrass clones selected werepolycrossed for seed production. Synthetic seeds were examined on growth characters and forage productionsin Suwon from 1996 to 1998, in Unbong 1997 and in Younchun 1998, respectively. The growth charactersand forage productions of Italian ryegrass variety named as "Hwasan 101" were summarized as follow ;ltalian ryegrass variety, Hwasan 101 was tetraploid and showed semi-prostrate growth habit in autumn andwas not only dark green in leaf color and broad in flag leaf width but also excellent in leafiness. Also, itshowed low plant height at first heading date of 20th May and excellent lodging tolerance. Expecially,Hwasan 101 in all trial regions was 80 -90% of winter survivals that was higher than 60 -90% of Florida80 and Marshall varieties. Therefore we estimate that Hwasan 101 can be cultivated in regions that is higherthan -9$^{\circ}$C in minimum average air temperature and lower than 400m in sea level. In forage production ofHwasan 101, fresh weight and total digestible nutrient(TDN) yield were 66,940 and 6,551kghq and drymatter yield was 10,050kgha. In conclusion, Italian ryegrass, Hwasan 101 was medium and late maturingvariety but excellent in cold-tolerance, lodging-tolerance, leafiness, and forage production.(Key words : Italian ryegrass, Cold tolerance, New variety)ian ryegrass, Cold tolerance, New variety)
