Valorisation of morphological and agricultural traits of 21 varieties of flax Linum usitatissimum L.

Summary Introduction: Valorisation of the genetic resources of crop plants is related to the protection of biodiversity. Objective: The morphological and agricultural valorisation of 21 genotypes of flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) was carried out. Ten accessions of fibre flax were investigated: Fortuna, Izolda, Lazur, Swadzimski, Zwisły, Ariadna, Bryta, Waza, Milenium, Golęciński from Poland; Jordan, Tabor from Czech Republic; Argos, Venus from France; Baltuciai, Vega 2 from Lithuania: Irma, Persey from Ukraine; Rusicz from Russia and Alba from The Netherlands. The evaluation was also made for one linseed varieties from France, Drakkar. Methods: The studied genotypes of flax were the research material in two locations: in 2010 in Pętkowo and in 2011 in Wojciechów. The valorisation of the tested morphological and agricultural traits was carried out traditionally. Some of the valorised morphological features were also presented in the form of data for the International Flax Database. Results: Venus, Argos, Tabor and Jordan are varieties with a high fibre content in the stem. The highest fibre yield was found in Vega 2 in Pętkowo and Milenium in Wojciechów, and the lowest in Lazur in Pętkowo and Drakkar in Wojciechów. In both locations and years, the following cultivars were characterized by the highest seed yields: Lazur, Jordan, Argos, Vega 2, Golęciński and Persey. Cultivars Milenium in Pętkowo and Bryta in Wojciechów were the least valuable in terms of seed yield. Conclusions: Morphological and agricultural valorisation differed in both locations and years. The conducted experiment confirms the literature data that the valorisation results of flax accessions depend on agrometeorological conditions.