RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN RADICAL INFESTATION OF Hylastinus obscurus (MARSHAM) AND THE YIELD OF CULTIVARS AND EXPERIMENTAL LINES OF RED CLOVER (Trifolium pratense L.)

Red clover (Trifolium pratense L.) is a valuable forage legume grown alone or in mixture with grasses in temperate regions of the world. Red clover is adapted to a wide range of soil types, pH levels, environmental and management conditions. However, the main limitation of this species is the lack of persistence related to the high mortality of plants. In Chile the main biotic factor affecting survival of plants is the root borer Hylastinus obscurus (Marsham) (Coleoptera; Scolytidae). In 1989, a red clover (T. pratense L.) breeding program was started at Carillanca Research Center of the Institute of Agricultural Research (INIA), Chile, with the main objectives of improving the survival of plants, forage yield and persistence. In 2002 a research line to study the interaction between the root borer and the plant was started. This paper describes briefly the improvement obtained in survival of young plants after twenty years of breeding and the importance of root borer population regarding forage yield. Experiments were conducted at Carillanca Research Center under irrigated conditions, comparing under cutting the dry matter yield of new synthetic lines and Redqueli-INIA with Quinequeli-INIA. The experimental lines Syn Int IV, Syn Pre III, Syn Int V and Syn Int VI were more productive than the cultivars Redqueli-INIA and Quinequeli-INIA at the second season. The evaluation of the biological parameter allowed identifying a tolerant line, Syn Pre I, and three potential new varieties: Syn Pre III, Syn Int V and Syn Int VI. This is the first report showing an inverse relation between dry matter yield of red clover and root borer population (P <= 0.05). Moreover, we report the first evidence that H. obscurus start the colonization of red clover plant of 6-month-old.