Study of Breeding Lines of Soft Spring Wheat in a Competitive Variety Trial in Irkutsk Region

Abstract

AbstractThe yield potential of the plant is the most essential property of the variety and is usually defined as the key factor in the breeding objectives. The work presents an assessment of soft spring wheat breeding lines in a competitive variety trial. The competitive variety trial included 13 lines selected in hybrid swarms and propagated in breeding and reference nurseries. 2 varieties of soft spring wheat were taken as the reference: Iren in the early group, and Tulunskaya 11 in the middle-early group. The evaluation of the studied lines was performed according to the key indicators that are of utmost importance in breeding practice. The growing season of wheat is a very important indicator, since the climate of the Irkutsk region is severe, the duration of the frost-free period in the region is 70–110 days only. The observations enabled identification of the AA-67-14 line with a shorter growing season, it can be attributed to the group of early wheat. AA-41-15 line was at the reference level in the middle-early group. This line was marked as the highest yielding. In terms of protein and gluten content, it was at the reference level.KeywordsSoft spring wheatCompetitive variety trialLineVarietyEarlinessGrainProductivity