Breeding improvement of spring durum wheat (Triticum durum desf.) for yield and grain quality in environments of Altai territory

It is commonly accepted that breeding is an effective approach to enhance valuable traits and its progress depends on how long it is carried out, conditions and environments, methods used, its intensity etc. The aim of the research was to reveal progress for yield, grain and macaroni quality for the period 1970-2017 due to breeding improvement of spring durum wheat in Altai at varied environments and technological practices. Comparative study of 12 local varieties developed in different periods and the cultivar Kharkovskaya 46 was fulfilled for yield, protein, gluten content and total macaroni score. The experiment took place in 2012-2016 and 8 agro-technological backgrounds with mean varietal yield 1,10…3,95 t/ha were organized. It was established that breeding conditioned the yield increase from 2,03 t/ha of old cultivars up to 2,57 t/ha of modern ones and 2,75 t/ha of advanced lines. Maximal surplus was obtained for Oasis cultivar (+0,87 t/ha). Yield advantage was observed both in stressed (drought during entire growing period, early summer drought combined with frit fly injury) and favorable environments. Yield stability grew up - variation coefficient of yield of modern cultivars and lines was 11-12 absolute percent lower. Regression coefficient after Eberhart&Russell described all the varieties with high phenotypic stability. Cultivar Oasis had the highest yield in the trail and some extensity and the line Hordeiforme 748 combined high yield with moderate responsiveness. Kharkovskaya 46 had the highest deviation from regression line. Protein content (trail mean) made up 15,4 % with variation in favorable zone from 14,1 till 17,2 %. Mean values for groups of old and modern cultivars had small difference. At this modern cultivars produced more protein per unit of area by 25 % (0,32 vs. 0,40 t/ha). As for gluten content they were inferior to old ones by 1,1 absolute percent and advanced lines by 2,2 %. Total macaroni scores of these groups were practically equal and this means that the quality of final products was saved while yield was essentially increased.