O. S. Kononenko

At present, the high level of breeding work requires careful selection of initial material, identification of valuable forms in the world collection of wheat to develop highly productive varieties resistant to infectious diseases and with high grain quality. Therefore, the purpose of the current study was to estimate the initial material of winter durum wheat and identify sources of resistance to the main foliar diseases in the south of the Rostov region. The study was carried out in the fields of the department of winter wheat breeding and seed production of the FSBSI “ARC “Donskoy” in 2020–2022. There have been studied 159 genotypes of various geographical origins, represented by 13 countries, namely 44.8 % from Russia, 15.8 % from Mexico, 9.4 % from Ukraine, Turkey, etc. The estimation of genotypes for resistance to foliar diseases (powdery mildew (Blumeria graminis tritici), brown (Puccinia triticina) and yellow rust (Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici), septoria (Zymoseptoria tritici)) was carried out on a natural background. High air humidity and abundant precipitation in the spring-summer period through all yearsof study favored the development of foliar diseases on winter durum wheat. As a result there have been identified several genotypes with complex resistance to the main foliar diseases common for the south of the Rostov region such as 1148/12, 1015/16, 1006/15, 323/17, 955/17, Cremona, Krupinka (Russia), SN TURK MI 82-83 90/GUTROS-2, P 1290493//HUI//AV79 (Mexico), Rodur (France), which can be recommended as promising material for further breeding work in order to develop resistant varieties with economically valuable traits.

The current paper presents the 3-year assessment results of domestic and foreign winter barley varieties and lines for smut resistance. The smut pathogen in the Rostov region causes one of the most harmful diseases, which, in addition to direct crop losses (head destruction), causes the so-called hidden losses, which can several times exceed direct ones. An effective way to counteract the disease is to cultivate resistant varieties, and farmers need the reliable sources of resistance to the pathogen. The immunological properties of winter barley varieties were studied in an infectious nursery (2016–2018). Seed infection with spores was carried out by S. Dimitrov’s method (1968) using a nutrient medium. Inoculated seeds were sown at the end of the optimal time. There was estimated a number of infected stems. The variety “Dobrynya 3” was used as a susceptible test-variety, which percentage of infection throughout the years ranged from 20.6 to 71.8%. There were studied 115 domestic and foreign varieties and lines. Among 69 domestic commercial varieties and breeding lines, 11 ones (15.9%) showed good resistance, 21 ones (30.4%) showed weak susceptibility, 30 ones (43.5%) possessed average susceptibility and seven varieties (10.1%) were severely affected by the pathogen. Among foreign varieties, resistance to barley smut has been established in seven German varieties, in three French varieties, in two Swiss varieties, one Czech variety and one Ukrainian variety. The varieties “Rocca”, “Nixe” (Germany), “Metelitsa” (Ukraine) are classified as the best ones in resistance to the pathogen during the artificial infection. The French variety “18513 ЕН11” had no affected plants during the study and was identified as an immune variety. The identified sources of winter barley resistance to smut are recommended for use in breeding programs for immunity.