INDIRECT SELECTION FOR PERSISTENCE AND SEED YIELD IN LARGE-LEAVED WHITE CLOVER

High persistence and seed yield are important targets in white clover breeding but their assessment is expensive. The efficiency of indirect selection for these traits performed on characters recorded during a medium-term dry matter (DM) yield evaluation was verified for large-le aved populations in separate experiments for medium-term (three-year) and long-term (fourth and fifth year) DM yield (Trial 1) and seed yiel d (Trial 2). The best results were provided by stolen density observed at the end of the third cropping year for prediction of long-term yie ld, and by the product of number of heads times number of florets per head assessed prior to mowing in Trial 1 for prediction of seed yield in Trial 2. Indirect selection was about as efficient as direct select ion in these cases. Predictions of persistence from three-year or thir d year DM yield, and seed yield from single seed yield components in T rial 1 were less accurate.