Economically valuable traits of collected sesame samples tested in the conditions of the Astrakhan region

In 2017-2018, we studied 45 sesame samples from the VIR collection in the experimental fields of the Cis-Caspian Agrarian Federal Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences (PAFNC RAN). According to temperature indicators, conditions of the years of a research were favorable for the growth and development of sesame. The sum of positive temperatures over the years was equal 3253.8 and 3249.7 °C, respectively. The length of the vegetative period of samples varied from 104 to 133 days. The earliest maturing samples (98-105 days) were KK-80 and 741 from Uzbekistan and K-802 from Tajikistan. As middle-early maturing (106-115 days) 11 samples were characterized, 25 samples were middle maturing (116-125 days), and five samples were late maturing (126-133 days). The most of the samples (33 samples) had seeds of average size (1000 seeds weight of 3.0-3.4 g) at the standard level (3.1 g). By a complex of economically valuable traits we selected 30 samples. The samples KK-883, 291, 171, 265, 468 from Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Tunisia and Malta demonstrated the highest yield (3.0-4.3 t/ha). Very early maturing samples of sesame with high yields are of great interest and can be used in breeding work.