Morphological Differentiation, Yield, and Cutting Time of Lolium multiflorum L. under Acid Soil Conditions in Highlands

Livestock production in the basins of the northern macro-region of Peru has as its primary source pastures of <i>Lolium multiflorum</i> L. 'Cajamarquino ecotype' (ryegrass CE) in monoculture, or in association with white clover Ladino variety, for feeding. The objective of this research work was the morphological characterisation, yield evaluation, and cutting time evaluation of two local genotypes (LM-58 and LM-43) of <i>Lolium multiflorum</i> L. in six locations. An ANOVA was performed to compare fixed effects and interaction. It was determined that the LM-58 genotype is intermediate, growing semi-erect, with a dark green colouring and 0.8 cm broadleaf, and can reach an average stem length of 46 cm, up to 1.6 cm. day^-1, achieving fourth-leaf growth at 28 days under appropriate management conditions. Despite the differentiated characteristics, according to BLASTn evaluation, the ITS1 sequences showed a greater than 99.9% similar identification to <i>Lolium multiflorum</i> L., characterising it as such. It was determined that the LM-58 genotype outperforms LM-43, achieving a forage yield of 4.49 Mg. ha^-1, a seed production of 259.23 kg. ha^-1, and an average of 13.48% crude protein (CP). The best biomass yield (49.10 Mg. ha^-1.yr^-1) is reached at 60 days; however, at 30 days, there is a high level of CP (14.84%) and there are no differences in the annual protein production at the cutting age of 60 and 45 days. With the results of the present study, LM-58 from a selection and crossbreeding of 680 ryegrass EC accessions emerges as an elite genotype adapted to the conditions of the northern high Andean zone of Peru.