Evaluation of new high- olealine sunflower (Helianthus L.) hybrids for yield and seed quality

The State Register of Plant Varieties Suitable for Distribution in Ukraine as of April 2024 contains 1.104 hybrids of annual sunflower: of which 730 hy­ brids or 66.1% are of foreign selection and 374 hybrids or 33.9% are of domestic selection. 83 hybrids belong to the high-oleic group. The qualification examina­ tion of annual sunflower hybrids for suitability for distribution in Ukraine (PSP) was carried out at the 184 research stations of the Ukrainian Institute of Plant Variety Examination within the soil and climatic zones of the Steppe and Forest-Steppe of Ukraine during 2022–2023 for seven new high-oleic annual sunflower hybrids ‘LG50648’, ‘F2687 Tsl’, ‘F4413VO’, ‘MAS 908HOCP’, ‘N4H413 KL’, ‘N4L460 CL’, ‘SULIANO’. The research was conducted in accor­ dance with the «Methodology for conducting a qua­lification examination of plant varieties for suitabi­lity for distribution in Ukraine (General Part)» and «Methodology for conducting an examination of plant varieties of the technical and fodder group for suitability for distribution in Ukraine». Their comprehensive evaluation was carried out according to the main economic and valuable indicators: yield, oil content, oleic acid content, protein content. It was found that the average yield of hybrids grown in the Forest-Steppe zone over two years of research was within 2.77–3.71 t/ha and exceeded the yield of hybrids grown in the Steppe zone, which was 2.10–2.90 t/ha. The highest average yield, both in the Forest-Steppe and the Steppe, was characterized by the hybrids ‘SULIANO’ and ‘LG50648’, respec­tively — 3.39 and 2.91 t/ha and 2.84 and 2.76 t/ha аnd the hybrid ‘N4H413 KL’, the yield of which, both in the Forest-Steppe and the Steppe was 2.90 t/ha. The highest oil content in seeds when grown in the Forest-Steppe zone was characterized by the seeds of the hybrids ‘LG50648’ — 53.3% and ‘F2687 Tsl’ — 51,3%, and in the Steppe zone — LG50648’ — 51.0%, ‘F4413VO’ — 49.8%. The highest values of oil yield per hectare were characterized by the hybrids ‘MAS 908HOCP’ — 1.64 t/ha and SULIANO’ — 1.49 t/ha in the Forest-Steppe zone, and in the Steppe zone — ‘N4H413 KL’ — 1.27 t/ha and ‘LG50648’ — 1.24 t/ha. The oleic acid content in the oil varied from 72.1 to 86.5%. In the Steppe zone, the highest values were obtained in the hybrid ‘LG50648’ — 86.5%, and the lowest — in ‘F4413VO’ — 80.0%. In the Forest-Steppe zone, the oleic acid content in the oil of the studied hybrids was somewhat lower. The maximum value was characterized by the hybrid ‘SULIANO’ — 86.2%, and the lowest — by ‘N4L460 CL’ — 72.1%. According to the results of the qualification examination for suitability for distribution, it was established that all seven studied sunflower hybrids are characterized by high indicators of productivity and seed quality and are recommended for cultivation in the Steppe and Forest-Steppe zones of Ukraine