Crop growth and Development: Reproduction

The reproductive mechanism of forage species determines procedures for seed production and isolation distances needed to obtain uncontaminated seed from cultivars and genotypes so that they remain genetically true to type. A large number of tropical forage species has been identified as being potentially useful but only about 50 have been cultivated and studied to any significant extent. Tropical and subtropical species utilized as forages are largely restricted to two plant families, the Poaceae (grasses) and the Fabaceae (legumes). Reproductive processes differ markedly between these two families and this paper discusses them separately. Topics of discussion include mode of reproduction; breeding systems; pollination; polyploidy and genetic stability of grasses and legumes.