The main problems encountered in breeding winter rye in the northwestern region are: winterhardiness, lodging resistance, disease resistance and grain quality. Winterhardiness in the northwest of the USSR depends on the resistance of rye to snow mould. Varieties from the USSR (Vyatka, Falenskaja, Udinskaja, Narymskaja 23 and some others) and Austria (Lungauer Tauern, Schlager) as well as many varieties from Finland present valuable material for breeding for winterhardiness. The breeding of short-strawed varieties was promoted considerably by the use of donors with the dominant type of inheritance of the short straw characteristic (EM-1, k-10028) and many forms and varieties created on their basis. Nine commercial varieties with a high yield potential and winterhardiness were bred. Short-strawed donors resistant to powdery mildew and brown rust (Imering 4, Fletera 2, Immunnaja 5), unique in their kind and very valuable, were bred by introgression of the genes for resistance, which had been discovered in the populations of wild species and older varieties. A strategy of breeding rye for disease resistance is suggested. In breeding to improve grain quality, a gene bank of varieties, in which the stability of high grain quality is retained, is valuable. Some varieties have a protein content in the grain of 10 %, with a lysine content in the protein of 4 % or more (Marienhofer, Wieselburger, Kisvardai). Four short-strawed analogues of commercial varieties (Ural’skaja HI, Tchishminskaja HI, Kustro HI, Stalrug HI) are close to the variety Otello as to their baking qualities. The material presented on the inheritance of characteristics contributes to the selection of donors when new varieties are bred.
Optimization of grain quality parameters for winter rye breeding