Sources of Short-Stemming of Winter Durum Wheat

The article presents the results of studying 159 collection samples of winter durum wheat of various ecological and geographical origin to identify the source material combining optimal height and high yield in the conditions of the southern zone of the Rostov region. The work was carried out in 2019–2021 at the experimental sites of the Agrarian Scientific Center “Donskoy”. Breeders have found that low-growing forms of winter durum wheat successfully resist lodging and, therefore, are able to produce high grain yields that meet the requirements of intensive farming. On average, during the study period, the plant height of the winter durum wheat source material was divided into the following groups: 59.7%—semi-dwarf, 37.7%—low-growing, 1.9%—medium-growing, 0.7%—tall. The weather conditions of the growing season are known to have a huge impact on the productivity of the plant. This is confirmed by the wide scale of variation in yield during the years of research. On average, during the studied period, samples of semi-dwarf and short-stem groups with plant heights of 61–105 cm had high productivity. According to the results of three-year studies, 15 genotypes belonging to the semi-dwarf group with a stable height (72.3–79.9 cm) were identified in the experiment, which are of particular interest for short-stem breeding.