**Session VI -- Plant Breeding, Germplasm Utilization and Cereal
Genomics -- Poster VI-15a\***

**Results of Oat Breeding in Russia**

I.G. Loskutov, N.I. Vavilov Institute of Plant Industry, St-Petersburg,
Russia

e-mail: <i.loskutov@vir.nw.ru>

The oat collection stored at the N.I. Vavilov Institute of Plant
Industry (VIR) harbors worldwide oat genetic diversity and consists of
more than 12,000 accessions. All these vast materials undergo complex
studies in the Institute's fields and labs, and the best of them are
forwarded to Russia's breeders. Every year dozens of sources and donors
produced or identified in the process of study are dispatched to all
national breeding centers. As a result, most of the oat cultivars
(according to some estimates, over 90%) currently listed in the Register
of Breeding Achievements of the Russian Federation have been developed
on the basis of the VIR collection or with the help of the Institute's
researchers.

At present, the Register of Breeding Achievements of the Russian
Federation contains 82 spring oat cultivars and 4 winter ones, including
11 cultivars of foreign breeding, 1 from the Ukraine, 2 from Belarus and
72 produced by Russian breeders.

The only center in Russia involved in winter oat breeding is Maikop
Research Institute of Agriculture (Krasnodar region). Its breeders
released 4 commercialized cultivars: Podgornyi and Mezmay (breeder A.
Shchepetkov); Guzeripl and Vernyi (breeder G. Gudkova). All four are
productive and demonstrate good winter hardiness, as this region in
winter often endures long periods with negative temperatures.

The country's champions in cultivation longevity are the Swedish
cultivar Guldregn (Golden Rain), commercialized in 1929 and bred by
Svalöf Breeding Station in 1904, and the Russian cultivar Narymsky 943,
developed at Russia's oldest Narym Breeding Station (Western Siberia)
and commercialized in the USSR in 1973. Once, this cultivar occupied
more than 1,000,000 hectares of arable lands. Also commercialized in the
1970s and still cultivated are the Russia cultivar Tayozhnik (Narym
Breeding Station), Ukrainian cultivar Chernigovsky 83 (Chernigov
Breeding Station) and two foreign cultivars, Selma (Sweden) and Astor
(Netherlands). Most of the oat varieties included in the Register were
commercialized from 1990 through 2007.

In 2000, the first Russian cultivar of naked oat, Tyumensky Golozernyi
(Research Institute of Agriculture for the Northern Trans-Ural Region),
was approved for national-scale cultivation, later followed by naked oat
cultivars Levsha (Kemerovo Research Institute of Agriculture (Western
Siberia) in cooperation with VIR) registered in 2005, Vyatsky
(North-Eastern Research Institute of Agriculture) registered in 2007 and
Sibirsky Golozernyi (Siberian Research Institute of Agriculture (Western
Siberia), Goletz (Krasnoayrsk Research Institute of Agriculture (Eastern
Siberia) registered in 2008.

Ten commercialized cultivars were bred at the Research Institute of
Agriculture for Central Areas of the Non-Black-Soil Zone (Moscow region)
(breeders E. Lyzlov and P. Magurov) cooperatively with Ulyanovsk
Research Institute of Agriculture (Volga basin) and other breeding
institutions. Quite successful were the breeding efforts of the
North-Eastern Research Institute of Agriculture which released 10 oat
cultivars jointly with its breeding station in Falenki (breeders E.
Denisova and G. Batalova). The Narym Breeding Station, also in some
cases aided by other centers, developed 7 cultivars; Siberian Research
Institute of Agriculture (Western Siberia) 5 cultivars (breeders V.
Bogachkov and N. Smishchuk); and Buryatia Research Institute of
Agriculture (Eastern Siberia) 4 cultivars. Each of the following centers
claims authorship of 3 cultivars approved for commercial use: Siberian
Research Institute of Plant Production and Breeding (Western Siberia),
Altai Research Institute of Agriculture(Western Siberia), Kemerovo
Research Institute of Agriculture(Western Siberia), Tulun Breeding
Station (Eastern Siberia), and the N.I. Vavilov Institute of Plant
Industry. As far as joint crop improvement is concerned, worth
mentioning is the valuable contribution of Ulyanovsk Research Institute
of Agriculture (Volga basin) (breeder V. Zakharov) which does not deal
directly with hybridization, but is always actively involved in the
consequent stages of breeding and initial seed production of the
released cultivars.

Characterizing commercialized cultivars, it should be taken into account
that some of them have broad adaptability. The most widespread oat
cultivar in Russia is cultivar Skakun (Research Institute of Agriculture
for Central Areas of the Non-Black-Soil Zone, Moscow region) cultivated
in 9 of the country's 12 regions. This cultivar is high-yielding, boasts
high grain quality, and is listed among the best quality varieties.
Cultivated on a commercial scale in 6 regions are three cultivars:
Borets, Ulov (Research Institute of Agriculture for Central Areas of the
Non-Black-Soil Zone, Moscow region) and Dense (North-Eastern Research
Institute of Agriculture); in 5 regions two cultivars: Kozyr (Research
Institute of Agriculture for Central Areas of the Non-Black-Soil Zone)
and Tyumensky Golozernyi (Research Institute of Agriculture for the
Northern Trans-Ural Region); in 4 regions Droog (Research Institute of
Agriculture for Central Areas of the Non-Black-Soil Zone), Argamak and
Faust (North-Eastern Research Institute of Agriculture). All these
cultivars have higher levels of productivity, possess disease resistance
and are listed among the best quality varieties.

All oat cultivars listed with Russia's Register of Breeding Achievements
are the most productive and adaptive for their corresponding regions,
since they were bred on the basis of the VIR global collection or
trialed against the world's best varieties in collection and breeding
nurseries.