Analysis of spring rapeseed varieties (Brassica napus L. var. oleifera) presented in the State Register of Plant Varieties of Ukraine

Purpose. Determine the main indicators of productivity and quality of seeds of spring rapeseed new varieties during their cultivation in different argoclimatic zones of Ukraine. Methods. Field, laboratory. Field studies were carried out on the basis of the Branches of the Ukrainian Institute for Plant Variety Examination in the zones of Polissia, Forest-Steppe and Steppe in 2015–2016. Results. The State Regis­ter of Plant Varieties Suitable for Distribution in Ukraine (the Register of Plant Varieties of Ukraine) as at 22 August 2019 contains 60 varieties of spring rapeseed, of which 42 (70.0%) are of foreign origin and 18 (30.0%) are Ukrainian cultivars. The maximum sown area in Ukraine occupied by spring rapeseed was about 68.3 thousand ha in 2018, which is twice as much as the area of 2013. In 2019, a dramatic decrease in sown area was observed. The productivity of the studied rapeseed varieties in 2015–2016 in the Steppe zone was on average 0.94–1.17 t/ha; Forest-steppe – 2.16–2.29; Polissia – 1.33–1.62. The yields of individual varieties exceeded 2.0 t/ha; they had a high content of oil and crude protein and a low content of erucic acid and glucosinolates in the seeds. The content of erucic acid did not exceed 0.1%, glucosinolates – 0.8%. Conclusions. The highest yield in the zones of Forest-Steppe and Polissia was observed from ‘DK 7160 KL’ variety – 2.28 t/ha and 1.62 t/ha, respectively. The maximum crude protein content in the steppe zone was found in ‘Aksana’ variety (26.6%), in the Forest-steppe zone – in ‘Bilder’ (25.4%,) in the Polissia zone – in ‘Sander’ (24.9%). High oil content in seeds in the Steppe zone was in varieties ‘Bilder’ (45.0%) and ‘DK 7155 KL’ (45.2%), in the Forest-Steppe – in ‘Sander’ (46.5%) and ‘DK 7155 KL’ (46.6%); in Polissia – in ‘DK 7160 KL’ (47.1%) and ‘DK 7155 KL’ (46.8%). The minimum content of erucic acid in the seeds of spring rapeseed in the Steppe was in the varieties ‘Aksana’ and ‘DK 7150 KL’, in the Forest-Steppe – ‘GK 7160 KL’, ‘CLICK KL’, ‘DK 7155 KL’ and in the Polissia zone – ‘DK 7160 KL’ and ‘DK 7150 KL’.