Department of Breeding and Seed Production of Cross-Pollinated Crops

The department develops the theoretical and methodological foundations for creating high-yielding sunflower hybrids — in particular ones resistant to ALS-inhibiting herbicides and the most damaging diseases, and adapted to diverse soil-and-climate conditions, including the Southern Steppe of Ukraine.

Breeding is aimed at developing source material, inbred lines and high-yielding sunflower hybrids, as well as sorghum crops of various maturity groups and end uses. The core targets are early-maturing sunflower hybrids with a potential seed yield of 3.0–3.5 t/ha and mid-early and mid-season ones of 3.5–4.0 t/ha, with a growing season of 100–120 days, high oil content and elevated oleic-acid content.

The department conducts agrobiological study of source material and searches for and selects effective sources and donors of sunflower resistance to dangerous pathogens — downy mildew, phoma, alternaria, white, dry and grey rots — as well as to new races of broomrape.

An important focus is supplying farms of every form of ownership with high-quality seed of sunflower parental components and of sorghum varieties for variety renewal and replacement. The department also develops innovative technologies and scientific-methodical approaches to seed production of cross-pollinated crops.

The department's specialists provide author supervision of seed growing, cleaning, soil control, electrophoretic analysis, certification and storage, together with the supply of parental components for hybridisation plots and scientific-methodical support of growing first-generation hybrids.

The department has developed the methodological basis for creating sunflower source material for heterosis breeding, identified ways to improve breeding material and refined methods of selecting crossing pairs.

Theoretical principles and practical methods of heterosis breeding for adaptive capacity, heat and drought tolerance have been established. Directions and methods of breeding sunflower hybrids for the dry zone of Ukraine have been developed, along with techniques for identifying and using sources of strongly expressed valuable agronomic traits and of resistance to biotic and abiotic factors.

A separate line of work has been the theoretical basis for breeding sunflower for high oil content and resistance to sulfonylurea herbicides.

More than 50 sunflower hybrids created with the department's researchers have been entered into the State Register of Plant Varieties suitable for dissemination in Ukraine. They span different maturity groups; by the fatty-acid composition of their oil they belong to the linoleic and oleic types, are oil-purpose hybrids, and are resistant to sulfonylurea and imidazolinone herbicides as well as to new races of downy mildew and broomrape.

A substantial number of inbred lines with a complex of valuable agronomic traits, including of the oleic type, have been created; twenty of them are entered into the State Register as parental components of hybrids of various maturity groups. New-generation sunflower hybrids have also been created: single-cross — Sanrok, Buh, Tiras; three-way — Barier, Bastion, Bastard.

One promising avenue is the adoption of modern breeding methods based on DNA markers and other molecular-genetic approaches. From 2008, when B. F. Varenyk became head, an active search for new approaches in sunflower breeding and seed production began, drawing on molecular-genetics research — jointly with the Southern Biotechnology Centre in Plant Growing and with the institute's Department of General and Molecular Genetics.

Scientific and technical cooperation continues within NAAS programme 26 “Sunflower” with the Yuriev Plant Production Institute (NAAS) and the Institute of Oil Crops (NAAS): more than 20 sunflower hybrids of various maturity groups have been submitted to State Variety Testing and subsequently registered. Cooperation with private companies of Ukraine and Moldova continues, helping to bring developments into production efficiently.

The department consistently works on heat and drought tolerance as part of the modern hybrid model. Valuable lines with high tolerance to extreme drought have been created: Odeska 1036, Odeska 3369, Od 1002, Od 1035, Od 1042, OS 1001, OS 1011, OS 1019.

New-generation maize hybrids have also been created (Yunha 260, Krok 280, Safir, Opal, and others). Among sorghum crops, the department has created the grain-sorghum (bicolour) variety Stepovyi, the sorghum-rice variety Merkurii, the Sudan-grass variety Dachnenske 221, and sweet-sorghum hybrids Zubr, Sokhatyi, Zhyraf, Mul and others.

The effectiveness of bringing sunflower breeding results into production largely depends on the level of seed production.

While refining pre-basic and basic seed-production technologies and quality-control methods, rapid methods of electrophoretic analysis and soil control were developed and validated.

Their use made it possible to raise the varietal trueness and sterility level of parental components — a key prerequisite for producing high-quality hybrid seed.

Over the years the department has maintained broad international cooperation with leading European breeding companies: Rustika, Euralis Semences, Advanta Seed International, Alta Seeds, RAGT Semences, Strube International, Caussade Semences, Saaten-Union and others. It yielded sunflower hybrids (Ursus, Medaillon and others) that were successfully grown in European Union countries and in Türkiye.

For many years, together with molecular geneticists (NAAS academician Yu. M. Syvolap, PhD A. Ye. Solodenko and others), PBGI NCSCI has studied the use of molecular markers in breeding programmes — selection based on genotypic analysis (marker-assisted selection, MAS).

Together with the institute's Plant Biochemistry Laboratory (D.Sc. O. O. Molodchenkova, Yu. A. Levytskyi, L. Ya. Bezkrovna) the department studies changes in biochemical indicators linked to the formation of defence mechanisms in sunflower lines and hybrids with differing resistance to downy mildew (Plasmopara halstedii) at the germination stage.

In recent years the department has carried out joint sunflower-breeding research with the Yuriev Plant Production Institute (NAAS) and the Institute of Oil Crops (NAAS). The result is the registration of joint hybrids: single-cross (Slavson, Charodii, Koloryt, Planeta, Husliar, Solar) and three-way (Sudzhok, Sokrat, Bliutuz and others).