Ecological variability of winter rye yield in the Middle Volga region

Abstract

Rye grain yield in the Russian Federation has had a positive trend over the last 12 years, with an increase of 0.45 kg/ha per year. The Volga Federal District is the centre of rye growing in Russia. We evaluated the adaptability of Tatarstan winter rye varieties of own selection - first (Tatarskaya 1, Radon) and last generation (Tantana and Zilant) in terms of grain yield. From 2019 to 2023, these varieties will be tested in a competitive variety trial at the Tatar Agricultural Research Institute, FRC Kazan Scientific Centre of RAS. The breeding strategy was not focused on increasing the "upper limit" of yield, but on reducing the varieties' sensitivity to the environmental conditions of the production area. Cultivar plasticity ranged from 0,743 (Tatarskaya 1) to 1,246 (Radon). The research results showed that the latest generation varieties (Zilant, Tantana) are characterised by higher yields, plasticity and good stability compared to earlier developed varieties. The cultivar Zilant achieved the optimum balance of ecological variability parameters.