PROMISING WINTER WHEAT BREEDING MATERIAL FOR GRAIN PRODUCTION STABILIZATION
Contrasting weather conditions of the harvest period considerably complicate the final stages of grain production. In the southern forest-steppe area, the replacement of 10-12% of spring wheat areas for winter wheat will enable earlier harvesting of quality and storable grain. The basis of high quality grain production is adapted varieties capable to form high quality grain. The research goal is a phased study of a new breeding material of winter wheat. The most promising forms with a set of high quality grain characters were identified at different stages of selective breeding. Nine lines were identified in the 1st year breeding nursery; they outperformed the standard Omskaya 4 by 23.1-50.9% in terms of yield capacity and by 4-11 ml in terms of sedimentation. As two-year average, two accessions from the control nursery outperformed the standard Omskaya 4 by flour strength (by 15% and more) and yielding capacity (by 0.31-0.72 t ha). For 3 years of competitive variety trial, the accession Fantaziya × (Donskaya ostistaya × Mutant 114) was identified. This accession formed grain with high protein content (1.28%) and better physical properties of dough. In terms of yielding capacity, this accession outperformed the standard Omskaya 4 by 1.08 t ha. Under the conditions of the southern forest-steppe these forms grown commercially may produce high-quality grain of the 3rd class required for the milling and baking industries.