Alfalfa fertility under conditions of cross-fertilization

Abstract

This paper presents data on the vitality of male gametophyte (pollen) and the number of unfertilized ovules per ovary in 17 genetically divergent genotypes under conditions of cross-fertilization in a polycross test. Pollen vitality in the studied alfalfa genotypes ranged from 59.3% to 85.3%, or 76.6% on average. The genotypes Ri–11, Di–4 and Rs–2 were distinguished for high pollen vitality - 85.3%, 81.6% and 81.2%, respectively. The other genotypes had significantly lower values of this parameter. The genotypes had 9.3 to 9.8 unfertilized ovules per ovary, without significant differences among them. The obtained results on the vitality of male gametophyte and the number of unfertilized ovules per ovary show that the studied alfalfa genotypes had high fertilization potential. The correlation between pollen vitality and number of ovules per ovary was not significant (r = –0.445).