SOURCES OF ECONOMICALLY VALUABLE SIGNS FOR BREEDING OF WINTER SOFT WHEAT IN THE STEPPE ZONE OF KRASNODAR REGION

Winter wheat is the main food and strategic crop of Russia. An important way to increase grain production is to select and introduce new varieties with a complex of valuable characteristics. To create such varieties, you need a well-studied source material. Therefore, the study of the global diversity of the wheat collection in order to identify the sources of the main economically valuable traits is an urgent task. In the conditions Of the Kuban experimental station VIR branch (Krasnodar territory), 178 collection samples of winter soft wheat were studied in 2014-2017. The registered area of experimental plots is 2 m2. In accordance with the VIR guidelines, the samples were studied based on the characteristics of the vegetation period duration, lodging and short-stem resistance, and disease resistance. In laboratory conditions was carried out structural analysis determined the weight of 1000 grains, number of productive ears per 1 m2, grain weight of spike and 1m2, length, density, and ear grain content. According to the results of the study, 6 samples were identified that have a period of germination-earing 6-8 days shorter than the standard, five samples that combine short – stemmed with lodging resistance, ten samples that are resistant (9 points) to leaf rust, 6 – to powdery mildew, 18- with group resistance. 8 samples were selected that showed a yield higher than the standard variety (Ophelia – 698.8 g/m2) by 226.2– 364.2 g (32-52%), 22 samples were distinguished by the elements of the crop structure (grain size, ear water content, grain weight per ear, number of productive ears). It was found out that in the selection of winter wheat, in addition to important economically valuable traits, special attention should be paid to such elements of productivity as grain size and ear weight, since these indicators, according to our data, have the most significant relationship with the grain yield of a particular sample.