Abstract: In this study, a comparative trial of four oat varieties was designed to characterize their dynamic changes in production performance and agronomic traits under the soil and climatic conditions of the Yellow River beach area in Henan Province. The stem to leaf ratio, fresh to dry ratio, plant height and hay yield of the oat varieties of ′Wuzhai′, ′Linna′, ′Bayou No.3′ and ′Jiayan′ in different growth period were determined when their seeding rate was 225 kg/hm². The results showed that at the flowering stage,the stem to leaf ratio of the above four oat varieties was 65.34%, 58.18%, 70.05% and 54.72%, respectively, and their fresh to dry ratio was 3.12, 3.17, 3.07 and 3.31, respectively. The growth rate of the oats exhibited a ′S′ shaped dynamic mode of ′low-high-low′. The highest growth rate of the oats was observed at the heading-flowering stage. The plant height of the above four oat varieties at the full-blooming stage was 108.58, 103.43, 100.37 and 113.42 cm, respectively, and the hay yield was 549.17, 514.74, 519.63 and 531.53 g DM/m², respectively. In conclusion, the four tested oat varieties characterized by rapid growth and high yield are all suitable for planting and growing the Yellow River beach area. ′Jiayan′ has superior comprehensive performance to the other tested oat varieties.

Key words: oat, the Yellow River beach area, growth, agronomic traits