EN
Poa pratensis is a grass species characterised by a wide range of utilisation possibilities. As a fodder grass, it is considered as an irreplaceable element of grassland sward. Moreover, this grass species is gaining in importance as lawn grass. In recent years, it has been increasingly viewed as a turf-forming grass species appropriate for difficult sites, including industrial sites. One of the most valuable advantages of Poa pratensis is its persistence. In this regard, it is comparable with Lolium perenne. Its other asset is its considerable turf-forming capability, albeit somewhat delayed. A good evidence of its growing importance is the breeding work carried out on this species with a collection of developed cultivars quite different with regard to their utilisation potentials. It is interesting to note that it is increasingly dominated by fodder cultivars and, therefore, any appearance of a new fodder cultivar, especially one suitable for pastures, deserves attention. On the other hand, such creations raise concern of evaluation criteria. The objective of the research project was to determine the importance of biological and chemical properties of Poa pratensis in the development of cultivars designed for pasture utilisation. The performed investigations were conducted on the following four fodder cultivars of this species: 'Skrzeszowicka' [PL], 'Skiz' [PL], 'Balin' [DK] and 'Slezanka' [CZ]. The multi-cut experiment was situated at a Cultivar Evaluation Station in Śrem. The following assessment criteria were applied: concentrations of total nitrogen anp nitrates, sugars and carbohydrate complex (lignin, chlorophyll and carotene dyes), selected mineral components as weil as the abundance of foliage and yields. It turned out that a moderate and systematic fertilisation allows obtaining sward characterised by an optimal - from the nutritional point of view - chemical composition. Another important feature deserving attention is a considerable phytochemical stability of the cultivars. The application of such a wide spectrum of evaluation criteria allowed determining numerous correlations. The most interesting of them were those, which indicate the existence of relationships between the chemical composition and the assimilation area of leaf blades, and cultivar yields. The observed correlations can be utilised in the process of developing new, improved cultivars, better than those used in the performed experiments.