Evaluation of Grain Sorghum Hybrids for Adaptive Capacity and Ecological Plasticity

Introduction.In the steppe arid conditions of the Lugansk region grain sorghum is a promising, but rare crop, used for food, fodder and technical purposes, its yield exceeds significantly the main spring grain crops of Donetsk region -oats, barley, corn, millet.Due to the expanded introduction of new, most adapted varieties and hybrids of grain sorghum will provide an increase in yields and gross yields of grain.At present a wide range of highly productive grain sorghum hybrids is created for cultivation.Selection of the most adapted to unstable and often extreme drought conditions of cultivation based on their evaluation by ecological plasticity and stability is an important and relevant research direction.Object.The modern, recommended for cultivation grain sorghum hybrids of various ecological and geographical origin were the object of research. Materials and methods.The field experiments were carried out in the conditions of the central part of the Lugansk region during 2016-2021 on the experimental field of the Lugansk State Agrarian University.The experiments included twenty modern, recommended for cultivation in the steppe zone of Ukraine grain sorghum hybrids breeding by companies «RICHARDSON seed», «RAGT semences», «EURALIS semences», «PEONEER», «ADVANTA».A medium-early grain sorghum hybrid Sprint W was used as a standard.The studies were conducted according to the generally accepted method of field experiment of Dospehov B.A.; Fedin M.A., Rogovsky Yu.A. and others.The analysis of twofactor experience (factor Ayears, factor Bhybrids), ecological plasticity ( bi ) and stability coefficients ( S 2 d ), general adaptive ability of genotype ( GAA), yield variation coefficient ( CV ), intensity index ( II ), stability index ( SI ), stability level index ( SLI ) were used for the assessment.Results and conclusions.The climate change index made the greatest impact on the yield ( Jj ).As a result of the study of twenty hybrids of foreign selection included in the State Register, varieties with the highest yield, adaptability to growing conditions, plasticity and stability were bred for the arid conditions of the Lugansk region -the earlymaturing hybrids Frisket (ADVANTA Company), Oggana (RAGT semences Company), medium-early hybrids Puma Star (ADVANTA Company) and Solarius (EURALIS semences Company).According to the indicators these hybrids exceeded the standard hybrid Sprint W (RICH-ARDSON seed Company).