Shallot Blondin variety as a source material for breeding for early maturity, keeping quality, productivity and yield

Relevance. Shallots (Allium ascalonicum L.) is a very useful and promising crop with high nutrition- al, taste and medicinal properties. Shallot is appreciated for its tender and juicy tasty greens, as well as early ripening of bulbs with a long shelf life. For widespread distribution and consumption, increasing demand and popularizing this culture, it is relevant to create new promising varieties with valuable economically useful characteristics that meet modern market requirements. When creating new varieties, it is important to search for sources of early maturity, keeping quality, productivity, yield and quality.The aim of the research was to study local varieties of shallots for a complex of valuable traits, select the best forms and create a new fruitful, white early-ripening white variety of the salad direction, possessing useful properties, good keeping quality of bulbs, resistant to unfavorable environmental factors for cultivation in the regions of the European part of Russia.Materials and methods. The initial material consisted of 18 varieties of the local population from the North Caucasian group, differing in morphometric, in particular the color of the bulb (yellow to white), biological and economic characteristics. The studies were carried out at the collection site of the Krymsk EBS, VIR Branch (Krasnodar Region, Krymsk). As a standard, we used two varieties included in the State Register with the color of the bulb from yellow (Off-season) to white (Snezhok).Results. The study of phenological, biological, morphometric and economic characteristics made it possible to select five promising forms that are valuable for the consumer: those with early maturity, productivity, light color, large long-term bulb, green feather productivity, winter hardiness and good taste. The best form – LSh 5-05, with a consistently high yield, long-term keeping quality of white bulbs, marketability, good mild taste and attractive appearance, is included in the State Register of the Russian Federation for admission to use as a shallot Blondin variety.