Evaluation of some winter rye (<i>Secale cereale </i>L.) traits under environments of Nosivka Plant Breeding Experimental Station

Abstract

The paper covers the results of studies on the development of medium-ripening winter-hardy short-stemmed winter rye varieties with yielding capacity of 9-10 t/ha being resistant to abiotic and biotic stressors. The results of the competitive strain testing (2012-2013, 2015-2016) of hybrid lines for grain and fodder value are compared with winter rye variety Khlibne as conventional standard.The variety Khlibne completely explains its name since it possesses good baking qualities: high values of test weight of grain, falling number, pentosan content, and viscosity of water extract of grain meal (VWEGM).When hybridizing short-stemmed productive varieties and winter rye hybrids with winter- hardiness donor Z2807 (Nosivka PBES, Ukraine), it is possible to create new winter-hardy, frost-resistant, short-stemmed productive varieties suitable for growing in Ukraine and abroad.The prospective populations of winter rye with alternative characters and inbred lines have been analyzed comprehensively for the main elements of the potential yield capacity structure. A variation in the content of arabinoxylans in the source material indicates the possibility of selecting samples for alternative use. High positive correlations between VWEGM and falling number were revealed. The high content of carotene in the winter rye leaves is an important indicator of vitamin nutrition of green fodder. The populations presented are resistant to lodging (stem lenght 90-110 cm), they are characterized with high productive tillering, head length up to 13 cmand grain number up to 80, high content of carotene in leaves and low content of pentozans in grains. Winter hardiness of new populations over the years of research was 98.8-99.9%. For four years they significantly exceeded the standard for grain yield (up to 10.80 t/ha vs. 6.85 t/ha).