Production performance and nutrient contents evaluation of the different Leymus secalinus populations from Shanxi

In order to provide theoretical basis for reasonably selecting and utilizing the genetic resources of Leymus secalinus, eight populations of L. secalinus from Shanxi Province were cultivated at Taigu, Shanxi. Production performance and nutrient contents of these populations were evaluated. Except with the numbers of fertile stems, spikelets, florets and seeds, seed reproduction traits including spike length, ripening rate and weight of 1 000 seeds were significantly different (P＜0.05) among populations. The principal component analysis of seed reproduction traits showed that the first 3 principal component factors were spike length, floret and fertile stems and the cumulative contribution rate was up to 81.09%. The principal component analysis of nutrient contents showed that the first 3 principal component factors were crude protein, crude fat and crude ash and the cumulative contribution rate was 87.89%. The comprehensive analysis indicated that the production performance and nutrient contents of populations from Youyu and Hunyuan were the best, which could be used for breeding in the future.