OSU-OARDC Plant Germplasm Release Guidelines and Practices

Special Circular 178-01

Evaluation Criteria for Proposed Releases

As stated previously, the CVRDC shall evaluate all proposed releases. The CVRDC will use the criteria stated here in its deliberation.

1. Minimum standards for testing in Ohio:
   1. Varieties developed by backcrossing four or more generations to an existing variety...one year and three tests (site-years).
   2. Varieties developed by backcrossing two or three generations to an existing variety...two years and six tests.
   3. All other varieties...three years and nine tests.

   Exception: The testing requirement may be waived by the CVRDC in cases where the superior performance of the proposed release in one or more characteristics is judged to outweigh the limitation in numbers of test environments.

2. For the guidance of CVRDC members in interpreting the data, Least Significant Differences (LSDs) should be presented for quantitative traits that are subject to substantial nongenetic variation (yield, maturity, heading date, height, etc.). It is usually inconvenient to perform the combined analysis of variance necessary to obtain exact LSDs for traits measured in multiple tests; therefore, it is acceptable to substitute separate LSDs for each test or year of testing or to calculate an approximate LSD for multi-year tests. The approximate LSD may be obtained from combined analyses of data sets that are believed to be typical of Ohio test data. The 10, 20, or 30 percent significance level may be more appropriate than 5 percent for decisions concerning variety release. The LSD should be used by the committee as a guideline for estimating the genetic superiority of a potential new release; it is not intended to set a rigid requirement that new releases must exceed established varieties by the LSD or another fixed amount.

3. Pedigree information will be supplied.

4. Any variants will be described and their frequency will be reported.

5. Presentations of crop-specific data on the traits listed in Table 2 are strongly recommended. See Table 2 on the following page.

Table 2. Recommended Trait Data for Release.
Corn	Small Grains	Soybeans	Tomatoes	Forestry Reproductive Materials	Small Fruit Crops	Tree Fruit and Nut Crops	Ornamentals
Yield	Yield	Yield	Yield	Growth rate	Clonal propagation requirements	Clonal propagation requirements	Growth habit
Maturity or % moisture	Heading date	Maturity by date	Color/color uniformity	Trait benefit	Growth habit (plant form)	Rootstock interstem recommendations	Growth rate
Lodging	Lodging	Lodging	Firmness	Adaptation	Adaptation (environmental stress tolerance)	Growth habit (tree form)	Size (height, canopy diameter) at maturity
Height	Height	Height	Soluble solids	Site index	Chilling requirements	Adaptation (environmental stress tolerance)	Summer/fall leaf color
Ear height	Baking & milling quality	Seed size	pH	Aesthetic value	Flowering habit	Precocity	Flower color persistence
Test weight/ density	Test weight	Protein	Titrateable acids	Wood characteristics	Fruit development, quality characteristics, and ripening patterns	Chilling requirements	Flowering habit
Disease resistance	Disease resistance	Oil content	Pigment content		Yield	Flowering habit	Flowering period
Insect resistance	Insect resistance	Disease resistance	Maturity		Nutritional/nutriceutical value	Flowering period	Fruit color and persistence
		Insect resistance	Disease resistance		Mechanical harvestability	Fruit development, quality characteristics, and ripening patterns	Bark characteristics
			Insect resistance		Shelf-life and storage behavior	Yield	Stress tolerance
			Fruit size		Consumer acceptance	Nutritional/nuticeutical value	Disease resistance
			Harvestability		Disease resistance	Mechanical harvestabilty	Insect resistance
					Insect resistance	Consumer acceptance	Vertebrate resistance
						Disease resistance	Propagation requirements
						Insect resistance
Data on other traits should be presented according to the breeder's judgment. Not all traits apply in each case.