FACTORIAL ANALYSIS OF LENTIL RAW MATERIALS IN THE LOWER VOLGA REGION

Lentils are one of the valuable legume crops used in the food industry and exported abroad. Against the background of increasing climate aridization, there is an urgent need to create new varieties that are resistant to abiotic and biotic factors. These varieties should also be able to maintain consistently high productivity in the current conditions. Therefore, evaluating the initial material for further breeding in the dry steppe region of the Volga region of the Saratov region is an important research area. The article presents the results of the evaluation of 22 lentil varieties for economically valuable traits on dark chestnut soils of the Saratov Left Bank. Statistical evaluation revealed that the indicators of the height of the lower bean attachment, plant lodging, seed weight per plant, and the content of fiber and ash were classified as having medium variation (20.0%>V>10.0%). The content of protein and NDF had low intervarietal variability (V<10.0%). Average positive correlations were established between the height of the lower bean attachment and the weight of 1,000 seeds (r=0.56); the number of seeds per plant and the protein content (r=0.59); the weight of seeds per plant and the protein content (r=0.61); and the biological yield and the protein content (r=0.59). It was found that the yield is significantly correlated with the elements of the yield structure: the number of beans per plant (r=0.89), the number of seeds per plant the number of seeds per plant (r=0.91), the weight of seeds per plant (r=0.90), the weight of 1,000 seeds (r=-0.83), and biochemical indicators: protein content (r=0.59) and fiber content (r=- 0.50). The determination coefficient was calculated, and the greatest contribution of the studied parameters to the total productivity was determined: the number of beans per plant – 19.6%, the number of seeds per plant – 20.5%, the weight of seeds per plant – 20.1%, and the weight of 1,000 seeds – 17.1%. The factor loadings were as follows: 43.40% for the first factor, 15.66% for the second factor, 12.10% for the third factor, 9.68% for the fourth factor, 7.74% for the fifth factor, and 5.26% for the sixth factor – 5,26%.