30 I EUROPEAN SEED I EUROPEAN-SEED.COM DOES EACH REGION REQUIRE ITS OWN VARIETIES? Cernoch underlines that apart from climatic conditions, the development of new varieties is under influence by farmers requests for quality. “For example, in Central, Eastern and Southern Europe, farmer’s priority is DM yield and lodging resist- ance (standability), as the first cut is carried out just before flow- ering. DM yield and lodging resistance here are the main traits for variety registration.” He adds “Western European farmers are also looking for DM yield and lodging, but feeding quality issues like protein content and fiber digestibility are important too. US and Canadian farmers prefer high cell wall digestibility with low lignin content, and therefore North American varieties are less lodging resistant. That is one of the main reasons, why overseas varieties often have registration-problems in Europe.” PESTS AND DISEASES AFFECTING LUCERNE Pests and diseases can drastically affect DM yield and persis- tency of lucerne. Cernoch says that diseases that have a different importance in various regions. “The most important diseases and pests are Verticillium, Colletotrichum (anthracnose) and stem nematodes. Breeding for resistance to these problems are important tasks for all plant breeders. “ CREATING A NEW LUCERNE VARIETY Plant breeders need to combine a variety of traits. “We need fall dormancy, DM yield, feeding quality, disease resistance and seed yield. In our global breeding and testing network, DLF is devel- oping, screening and selecting lucerne germplasm derived from different sources across the world to develop the most suitable A field of lucerne. (Photo provided by RAGT) varieties according to climatic and management demands for the single regions” says Cernoch. “DLF’s lucerne breeding program operates across Europe and around the world. We are looking to develop varieties that offer higher yields, better disease resist- ance and stronger winter hardiness,” he adds. Smith states “I am happy to say that S&W Seed has full capabilities in all facets of alfalfa breeding. We have two green- house complexes screening and characterizing 20-plus pests of alfalfa, which includes diseases, insects, and nematodes. Also we have an NIR lab characterizing forage quality and a molecular lab working on markers and new trait development. In addition, our company has research facilities in Australia and the US with P h o t o p ro v i d e d b y D L F