Phenotypic stability of oats measured with different stability analyses

The phenotypic stability of seven Finnish and Nordic oat cultivars and 12 breeding lines developed at the Hankkija Plant Breeding Institute, Finland, was studied using the Finlay-Wilkinson regression method, Eberhart-Russell stability analysis, principal component analysis (PCA) with biplot presentation, canonical variate analysis (CVA) and Procrustes analysis. Comparison of stability analyses was based on four dissimilar growing seasons. In addition to the measurement of phenotypic stability of grain yield, the performance of 12 morpho-physiological traits was evaluated, including maturity class and structure of canopy and plant stand. The different stability analyses examined produced uniform results and ranked the cultivars and breeding lines without major disagreements