Primary seed production of the spring barley varieties developed by the FSBSI “ARC “Donskoy”

The current paper has presented the data on the organization of primary seed production of spring barley. There has been considered the concept of “primary” seed production, which is based on the individual-family method of selecting families with a two-year estimation of progeny, which allows preserving and identifying varieties according to the most important economic and biological traits and properties. There has been emphasized an importance of using qualified seeds in the preservation of the variety. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the varietal and sowing qualities of spring barley varieties in the primary links of seed production in the conditions of the Rostov region. The study was carried out in the research crop rotation of the laboratory for primary seed production in 2019–2021. In the study there were used 7 spring barley varieties developed by the FSBSI “ARC “Donskoy”. There was found that the field and laboratory culling in the nurseries for testing a first-year progeny varied from 16.6 to 45.3%; and in the nurseries for testing a second-year progeny it ranged from 13.6 to 33.3%. There was determined that the largest productivity was formed by the varieties ‘Priazovsky 9’ (7.3 t/ha) and ‘Gris’ (7.4 t/ha) in 2019, and by the varieties ‘Gris’ (7.5 and 6.3 t/ha), ‘Fedos’ (8.0 and 6.1 t/ha) and ‘Format’ (7.6 and 6.3 t/ha) in 2020 and 2021. 1000-seed weight of more than 45 g was produced by the varieties ‘Priazovsky 9’, ‘Gris’ and ‘Format’. There was found out that the yield of qualified seeds changed from 73.9% (the variety ‘Shchedry’) to 80.6% (the variety ‘Ratnik’) in 2019, from 70.0% (the variety ‘Shchedry’) to 76.0% (the variety ‘Gris’) in 2020, from 68.1% (the variety ‘Shchedry’) to 78.4% (the variety ‘Format’) in 2021. There was established that the seed material of all spring barley varieties met the requirements of GOST according to the main sowing and varietal indicators, such as seed purity, moisture, germination energy and sowing suitability.