Relationship between Groat-Oil Content and Grain Yield of Oats (Avena sativa L.)

Raising the energy content of oat (Avena sativa L.) groats by increasing their oil percentage could improve the economic value of oats as a feed grain and as a source of culinary oil. Relative importance of genotype x environment interaction for groat-oil content and grain yield and the correlations of groat-oil content with yield and maturity were evaluated for ten cultivars grown at three Iowa locations for two years. Cultivar x location mean squares were significant for both traits, but they were much smaller, relative to cultivar mean squares, for groat-oil content than for grain yield. Ranking of oat cultivars for groat-oil content was similar in all environments. Groat-oil content was positively correlated with grain yield in both years (r = 0.62* and 0.63*) and had a negative but nonsignificant correlation coefficient with maturity (r = - 0.28 and - 0.48). These relationships are favorable for the development of high-yielding, high groat-oil content cultivars