PREDICTING VALUE OF THE STARTING MATERIAL FOR BREEDING RED CLOVER DIRECTED TO ENHANCE SEED PRODUCTION

New varieties of red clover should possess not only excellent fodder qualities, but also high yielding seeds. In the breeding work with this culture, starting material with the presence of traits that are positively correlated with increased seed productivity must be used. It was established that, under the conditions of the northern part of the Central Black Earth region of Russia, the seed productivity of red clover has a high conjugation with the weight of the dry mass, number of stems, inflorescences, seeds in heads, seeds formation, the number of seeds in inflorescence of plants (r = 0.55-0.89). The average correlation coefficient between seed yields and the length of the stem, the full expression of the pattern of leaves, weight of 1000 seeds was found (r = 0.30-0.45). Low positive correlation between seed productivity and the number of beans in the head, dispermous bean, number of internodes, the period from the beginning of spring growth before flowering, was determined (r = 0.09-0.24). Studies have shown that seed productivity of tetraploids to a greater extent than diploids determined by the number of productive heads on plant (r = 0,76-0,89), amount of formed seeds in the head (r = 0.84-0.89), mass of 1000 seeds (r = 0.39-0.45). Due to the positive conjugation of red clover's seed productivity with the duration of the period from the beginning of spring growth before flowering, under conditions of Orel region, in contrast to the less favorable regions of the country, the cultivation of early maturing, mid maturing and late maturing varieties of culture for seed purposes is possible. Identified correlations can be used in breeding of red clover both for the selection of the starting material and during the breeding rejections. This will reduce the time of the creation of new varieties with the presence of the trait of increased seed productivity.