Simple interline hybrid of winter rapeseed Merlo bred at V.S. Pustovoit All-Russian Research Institute of Oil Crops

The simple interline hybrid of winter rapeseed Merlot (VN2126) was developed by crossing the maternal form VN9 and the paternal form ORK10 using the Ogura CMS system. Merlo is a midearly hybrid characterized by uniformity of plants, flowering, and maturation, and is easy to harvest. In competitive trials from 2022 to 2023, Merlo surpassed the standard hybrid Debut in seed yield by 0.39 t/ha and in oil yield by 0.12 t/ha. According to similar indicators, the new hybrid exceeded the standard variety Loris by 1.41 and 0.58 t/ha, respectively, as well as one of the foreign hybrids, Factor, by 0.28 and 0.09 t/ha. The average thousandseed weight of the new hybrid over two years was 4.4 g; the hybrid Debut was 4.9 g, and the hybrid Factor was 4.4 g. The new hybrid is characterized by its resistance to seed shattering. The parental components of the hybrid Merlo are wellmatched in terms of flowering time. The maternal line VN9 (No. 1981) has a yield and oil content similar to the standard variety and a low glucosinolate content in seeds (13.7 μmol/g). The paternal line ORK10 is less productive than the maternal line but is resistant to seed shattering.