The methodology of honeycomb mass selection in yield improvement of alfalfa

Honeycomb mass selection design have been used in a genetic broad based ecotype of Alfalfa to assess its efficiency in yield improvement through two cycles of selection. The selection intensities used were: 14.26%, 7.69% and 5.26% in the first and 14.26%, 7.69%, 5.26%, 2%, 3.22%, 2.77% in the second cycle of selection. According to the results obtained from field trials it was concluded that the application of this design was effective in improvement of yield by 13.5% in first cycle. In the second cycle only the first ”selection” outyielded the initial population Heronia The mean gain for two cycles of selection was 6.5%. The selection intensities when select from yield must be maintained in the borders 10-14%.