IUKA

 

The following are accessions used in the 1979 transplanted plot near Iuka, Kansas. Twenty-one accessions were cloned vegetatively and planted in 22 rows 30" apart and 800' long. The accessions were selected from over 500 accessions based on apparent forage value.

 

Nine rows were of Oklahoma origin of which four were selected from Woodward, OK and five were selected from the Oklahoma Agriculture Experiment Station Agronomy Farm near Stillwater, OK. Six rows were of Texas origin including Grassland, Baird, Gatesville, Sweetwater, Stuart and Texarkana, TX. Five rows of Kansas origin accessions included Clonmel, Wichita, Emporia, Manhattan and a selection out of PMK-24. One accession from Boone County Arkansas was included and the 22nd row was a mixture of the Oklahoma accessions mentioned previously.

 

The harvested seed from this one acre block of selections was planted on the far side of the center pivot circle. This was repeated until circle #1 was established. Circle #2 and #3 were established with seed from circle #1.

 

The original selections are from wide spread origins and their hybrids should be adapted over a large area.

(The previous information is from the late Chet Dewald, Research Agronomist, Woodward, OK.)

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PETE

Origin and Method of Breeding or Selection: Seed collections were made from natural stands of eastern gamagrass in Kansas and Oklahoma in 1958. In 1960, 70 original seed lots were bulked to establish the first generation of a composite strain. The strain was advanced through the third generation via combine harvesting and replanting of open-pollinated seed. The first generation varied considerably in maturity; some selection for uniformity of maturity is presumed to have occurred during this process. The third generation of the composite was both the breeders' seed field and the foundation seed field. The strain was released on a germplasm basis in 1974. A formal release of foundation Pete was made to certified growers in 1989.

 

(The following information is from Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station, USDA Soil Conservation Service, USDA Agricultural Research Service, and Oklahoma State University Agricultural Experiment Station.)

Accession Numbers: PMK-24, PI-421612