SOURCE MATERIAL OF WINTER SOFT WHEAT SELECTION FOR PRODUCTIVITY AND DWARFNESS IN THE MIDDLE VOLGA FOREST-STEPPE CONDITIONS

The research was carried out in order to isolate the initial material of winter soft wheat for crop breeding for high productivity, low stems and their combination in the conditions of the forest-steppe of the Middle Volga region. The work was carried out in 2011-2013 in Ulyanovsk region. The soil of the experimental field is leached chernozem, the predecessor is pure fallow. The material for the study was 102 varieties of winter wheat of various geographical origins. The weather conditions during the experiment were contrasting. Stress factors of the environment, typical for the forest-steppe of the Middle Volga region, did not allow to realize the production potential of most of the winter wheat varieties of the world collection. Varieties from Germany, Hungary, Bulgaria, Serbia, Moldova, China, USA, Japan, Estonia, Latvia formed a yield below the Volzhskaya K standard (in 2011 - 630 g/m2, in 2012 - 367 g/m2, in 2013 - 162 g/m2) by 10 ... 93%. Due to the often developing dry conditions, significant positive correlation-regression dependences of the yield of winter soft wheat on plant height (R2>0.08) were established. High-yielding sources of Poema, Biyskaya ozimaya cultivars, which annually exceeded the standard by 16...205%, were identified and recommended as the starting material for crop breeding. Dwarf and semi-dwarf wheats Donskaya lira, Zamozhnist, Yasnogorka, which have generated yields at or above the Volzhskaya K standard (499 g/m2 on average for 2011–2012 and 264 g/m2 on average for 2012–2013), are breeding value as sources of a combination of low stalks and productivity.