SOVIET WHEAT VARIETY DEVELOPMENT: TRENDS AND PROSPECTS

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• Publication Date: November 1, 1982
• Content Type: REPORT

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Directorate of - ? Confidential
Intelligence
Soviet Wheat Variety
Development:
Trends and Prospects
A Technical Intelligence Report
Confidential
GI 82-10249
November 1982
Copy 4 0 6
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 Approved For Release 2007/02/16: CIA-RDP83B00851 R000300160002-5
Directorate of Confidential
Intelligence
Soviet Wheat Variety
Development:
Trends and Prospects
A Technical Intelligence Report
This report was prepared b
Office of Global Issues. Comments and queries are
welcome and may be directed to the Chief,
A ricultural Assessment Branch, OGI,
The pwas nated with the Department of
State.
Confidential
G! 82-10249
November 1982
 Approved For Release 2007/02/16: CIA-RDP83B00851 R000300160002-5
Confidential
Overview
Information available
as of 14 September 1982
was used in this report.
iii Confidential
GI 82-10249
November 1982
Soviet Wheat Variety
Development:
Trends and Prospects
We estimate that the USSR could reduce its annual wheat losses from
insects, diseases, and lodging by some 10 to 20 million tons within the next
10 years through the development and planting of genetically improved
wheat varieties. To achieve this reduction, the Soviets must overcome
numerous shortcomings that have plagued their wheat development pro-
gram-such as the failure to be innovative, to practice interdisciplinary
teamwork, and to apply research findings to production. Despite limited
progress to date, the Soviet wheat-breeding program has great potential. It
appears to be well funded, and is centered in some excellent research
facilities.
Soviet wheat varieties currently possess a high degree of genetic uniformi-
ty. Three varieties have predominated since the 1960s: 90 percent of all
winter wheat is sown with varieties containing the germ plasm of at least
one of two varieties, and 60 percent of the spring wheat area is sown with
varieties containing the germ plasm of a single variety. The resulting
narrow genetic base over the years has led to excessive losses from diseases,
insects, and unusually severe weather.
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Soviet Wheat Variety
Development:
Trends and Prospects
Introduction
The Soviet Union is the world's largest producer of
wheat, accounting for about one-fourth of total world
output. Wheat constitutes about 50 percent of total
Soviet grain production and nearly 90 percent of total
foodgrain production. It is planted on about 60 million
hectares, almost 50 percent of the Soviet grain grow-
ing area. Although Soviet farmers regularly produce
enough wheat to meet the country's needs for bread
and other wheat products for human consumption,
efforts to upgrade diets by providing more meat have
boosted the requirement for feedgrain, including
wheat used for feed, well beyond the amount that can
be reliably produced. In recent years as much as 40
percent of the total wheat crop has been used as
livestock feed. Shortfalls in total grain output are
covered by costly imports from the West; in the
marketing year ending 30 June 1983 the bill for some
45 million tons of grain will amount to $5-5.5 billion.
The problem created by the rising demand for feed-
grains is compounded by wide year-to-year fluctua-
tions in wheat production because of environmental
conditions that, in general, do not favor agriculture
and by the failure to develop and apply appropriate
agrotechnology, as well as by managerial and organi-
zational problems. A major aspect of the technology
problem is the failure to develop new wheat varieties.
Varietal improvements have the potential to increase
Soviet wheat yields and production significantly.
Strengths of the Soviet Wheat-Breeding Program
Work on the Soviet wheat-breeding program is car-
ried out at nearly 50 installations, according to pub-
lished Soviet accounts. At least a dozen of these
establishments are relatively large. Those at Krasno-
dar, Mironovka, and Odessa, for example, are exten-
sive complexes that include numerous greenhouses,
laboratory and seed storage buildings, housing facili-
ties, and phytotrons-controlled-climate facilities.
In addition to the h totrons, found only at the larger
research centers
a most all Soviet wheat-
breeding establishments now have controlled-growth
chambers, primarily of Canadian and US designs
purchased during the 1970s. Three crop generations
per year can be grown in many of the larger installa-
tions, which allows accelerqted develoom t and in-
troduction of new varieties.
The Soviet breeding program also maintains a germ-
plasm collection that includes some 40,000 wheat
specimens, probably the largest collection in the
world. The collection provides Soviet wheat breeders
with the potential to utilize any of the world's wheat
genetic resources. A modern national facility for
storage and maintenance of crop germ plasm was
built near Krasnodar in 1975.1
Shortcomings '
The Soviet wheat-breeding program, despite its poten-
tial, has a number of shortcomings, including a
serious lag in the application of research findings.
Soviet plant breeders tend to shy away from innova-
tion and the interdisciplinary teamwork necessary to
develop new, hi h- ieldin disease- and insect-resist-
ant varieties.
oviet wheat breeding is fre-
quen y base on the use of a limited number of long-
known and conventional methods. Many Soviet
wheat-breeding efforts involve only 100 to 150 two-
parent crosses per year, compared to the 500 to 3 000 25X
crosses that are made in major US programs
'The discussion of this topic and the remainder of the report are
based on an analysis of Soviet annual reports on newly zoned
varieties from 1976 through 1982, extensive examination of Soviet
w blished since 197
The phytotron that was completed in 1978 at the All-
Union Selection and Genetics Research Instit
Odessa is probably the largest in the world.II
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Table 1
Sown Area of Major Winter Wheat Varieties
by Originating Breeding Center, 1977
Krasnodar NII of Agriculture
5,453
32.0
2,910
30.7
1,058
23.40
All-Union Selection-Genetic Institute
1,647
9.7
450
4.7
973
21.50
Zernogradka State Selection Station
488
2.9
485
5.1
3
0.70
Soviet breeders, furthermore, appear not to be taking
practical advantage of recent Soviet and worldwide
achievements in wheat genetics and cytogenetics. For
example, biochemical and molecular genetic ap-
proaches to breeding are not in widespread use in the
USSR. Also, plant breeders generally have not
worked closely enough with plant pathologists and
entomologists. As a result, both old and new wheat
varieties are insufficiently resistant to disease and
insects
Predominance of a Few Breeding Centers. In 1977
more than 90 percent of the sown winter wheat area
was planted with varieties developed by only four
Soviet breeding centers (table 1). The directors of
breeding activities at these centers have dominated
the Soviet winter wheat breeding program for the past
quarter of a century. The breeding of spring wheat is
similarly concentrated. Approximately 70 percent of
the spring wheat area is sown with varieties developed
by only three centers. Of these, the Scientific-
Research Institute-of Agriculture for the Southeast
(S. P. Shekhurdin) is by far the most important. From
1973 to 1980, 28.6 to 29.6 million hectares-nearly
68 percent of the spring wheat area-was planted
with varieties developed by this institute alone. Of
considerably less importance are the Siberian Scien-
tific-Research Institute of Agriculture and the All-
Union Scientific-Research Institute of Grain Econo-
my. Varieties developed by these two centers and by
other smaller institutes normally account for plant-
ings of less than 1 million hectares each
The dominance of a few wheat-breeding centers in the
USSR has seriously reduced the genetic variability
(increased the genetic uniformity) of the planted
wheat crop. Moreover, Soviet annual published re-
ports on newly zoned varieties show that wheat breed-
ers at other institutes, rather than attempting to
challenge the dominant centers, have concentrated
primarily on the development of varieties that are
more narrowly adapted to local conditions. This has
permitted the dominant centers to become entrenched
and to exert undue authority, power, and influence
over the direction of Soviet wheat-breeding research.
The Mironovka Center, for example, which is also the
head institute for winter wheat breeding, still perpetu-
ates and promotes in national publications, and even
in various international forums, the virtues of the
"transformation" of spring wheat into winter wheat-
a hangover from the generally discredited Lysenko
era. Furthermore, we believe that the dominance and
prestige of a few favored wheat-breeding institutes
have largely eliminated competitiveness, independent
thinking, and original research, thereby fostering
continuing reliance on proven but older varieties of
wheat as major sources of the germ plasm used in
Soviet breeding programs
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Genetic Diversity. In recent published discussions of
the wheat-breeding program, Soviet breeders have
begun to recognize that the use of only a few sources
of genes can lead to undesirable results. They also
admit that wheat varieties now under cultivation are
not able to cope satisfactorily with cold and drought
and with rusts and other diseases. Furthermore, they
are aware that to obtain high and stable yields it is
necesssary to have a wide spectrum of diverse high-
yielding, adaptable, and disease-resistant varieties of
wheat, but as yet they have not shaped their wheat-
breeding program to deal with these and associated
issues.
When publicizing their wheat-breeding accomplish-
ments, the Soviets frequently call attention to the
number of wheat varieties they have developed. For
example, they point out that during the 10th Five-
Year Plan, 31 to 36 new varieties of winter wheat and
some 38 new varieties of spring wheat were approved
and zoned for planting.' The new varieties were
chosen from 173 winter and 107 spring wheat candi-
date varieties that had been developed and evaluated.
Such publicity often leads non-Soviet wheat breeders
and other foreign agricultural specialists to conclude
that there is considerable genetic diversity in whe t
that is grown in the USSR, but that is not the case
The genetic base of the predominant Soviet wheat
varieties is very narrow. The four leading winter
wheats, ranked according to percentage of the total
sown area that they occupied in 1980, are listed in
table 2. Soviet calculations show that winter wheat
grown on 90 to 95 percent of the winter wheat area in
1979 and 1980 contained the germ plasm of one or
both of two varieties, Bezostaya 1 and Mironovskaya
808. We estimate that some 60 percent of common
spring wheat now grown in the USSR includes the
germ plasm from one variety, Saratovskaya 29, and
that about 80 to 90 percent of the spring durum wheat
is produced by only one variety, Kharkovskaya 46.
I A zoned variety is one that has been approved for commercial
growing in one or more regions of the USSR by the State
Commission for Variety Testing. Before entering state testing, a
prospective variety must undergo at least three years of competitive
testing at the originating center. If tests are satisfactory, the variety
is subjected to three years of testing within the State Variety
Testing system. If this testing is successful, the variety is approved
by the Commission, which ds the zones or oblasts
where it is to be grown.1 T
Table 2
Major Winter Wheat Varieties
by Sown Area, 1980
Ranking Variety
Derivation
Percent of Winter
Wheat Area
1
Mironovskaya
808
Selection from
Artemovka
More than 25
2
Bezostaya 1
Selection from
Bezostaya 4
Slightly less
than 25
3
Odesskaya 51
(Bezostaya 4 x
Odesskaya 16)
About 14
4
Severodonskaya (Bezostaya 1 x
Mironovskaya 808)
6 to 7
During the period of 1972-82, the Soviets zoned a
total of 93 new varieties of wheat. Three-fourths of
these varieties contained the germ plasm of at least
one of three varieties-Bezostaya 1, Mironovskaya
808, and Saratovskaya 29. These three varieties and
varieties derived from them occupied nearly all of the
total wheat area of the USSR from 1972 through
1982
Genetic Vulnerability. From the mid-1960s to the
mid-1970s, more than 80 percent of the winter wheat
area was sown to two varieties-Bezostaya 1 and
Mironovskaya 808 (table 3). For spring wheat, the
long-term dominance of a single variety over the total
sown area has been about 40 percent-except in the
vast area of the New Lands, where it has been
extremely high. For example, about 95 percent of the
spring wheat area in Kazakhstan in 1980 was sown to
the Saratovskaya 29 variety (table 4).
The threat of genetic vulnerability most often is
reduced by increasing the number and genetic diversi-
ty of predominant varieties at any given time; howev-
er, vulnerability can also be reduced by regularly
replacing leading varieties with others that differ
slightly in genetic makeup, particularly in terms of
resistance to diseases and insects. Such a practice
provides "time diversity," whereby the buildup of
25X
25)
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Table 3
Dominance of the Winter Wheat Varieties
Bezostaya 1, Mironovskaya 808, and Their
Derivative Varieties According to Sown Area
Year
Variety or Variety Grouping
Percent
of Winter
Wheat Area
1968
Bezostaya 1
42
Mironovskaya 808
42
Total
84
1973
Bezostaya 1
40
Mironovskaya 808
45
Total
85
_
1977-79 a
Bezostaya 1 plus three derivative
33.4
I
varieties (Kavkaz, Krasnodarskaya
39, and 46)
Mironovskaya 808 plus two derivative
varieties (Mironovskaya Jubilee and
Ilichevka)
33-36
Total
66.4-69.4
1980
Bezostaya 1 and Mironovskaya 808
plus all derivative varieties
90-95
a Ilichevka, Kavkaz, Severodonskaya, Rostovchanka (Bezostaya 1 x
Mironovskaya 808) Krasnodarskaya 46, Odesskaya 51, Priboy
(Bezostaya 1 x Odesskaya 16) Krasnodarskaya 39 (Bezostaya 1 x
Saratovskaya 3) Donskaya Ostistaya (Bezostaya 1 x Local 272/59)
Dneprovskaya 521 (Bezostaya 1 x Ukrainka x Elimus) Dneprovskaya
775 (Bezostaya 1 x Lutescens 230) Mironovskaya Jubilee (Mironovs-
kaya 808 x Bezostaya 4) constituted 32 percent of the winter wheat
area in 1977.
Table 4
Dominance of the Spring Wheat Variety,
Saratovskaya 29,
According to Sown Area
Year Percent of Spring Percent of Spring
Wheat Area, Wheat Area,
Including Durum Excluding Durum
1970 38 46 (estimated)
1973 40 43 (estimated)
1970-76 45 (estimated average)
1980 40 (estimated)
1975-80 96 percent of spring wheat in
Kazakhstan
after the formation of grain kernels. Lodging' limits
the benefits of fertilizer and clean fallow, reduces
harvest efficiency, and increases yield losses in terms
of unfilled grain kernels, unharvested grain, and
spoiled or sprouted grain. Winterkill reduces the
density of stand and the number of vigorous plants.
Drought results in poor vegetative growth and re-
duced filling or formation of the grain kernels. That
Soviet wheat breeders have failed to develop varieties
of wheat capable of coping with these problems is
illustrated in part by table 5, which categorizes the
resistance of wheat grown in the Ukraine to the most
widespread diseases and insect pests.)
populations of specific strains of diseases or insects
capable of attacking a particular variety is reduced.
In the United States most of the leading varieties of
wheat are grown extensively for only about six to
eight years. By contrast, the three leading Soviet
wheat varieties have been grown extensively for at
least the past 15 years. A more detailed discussion of
the vulnerability of Soviet wheat varieties can be
found in appendix A
Varietal Weaknesses
The yield potential of many Soviet varieties is not
being realized because of varietal weaknesses. Dis-
eases and pests injure plants by reducing biological
productivity and by causing direct losses during or
Disease Problems. The Soviets estimate that the value
of annual grain losses caused by diseases is billions of
rubles. We estimate that losses due to rust diseases
alone average about 6 percent of the potential total
wheat crop, and in epiphytotic years at least 10 to 15
percent (figure 1). Most varieties of winter wheat are
susceptible to leaf, stem, and stripe rust diseases. Leaf
rust is always present in the major Soviet winter
wheat areas, and some losses in yield occur almost
every year. In years of rust epiphytotics, losses of 20
percent or more can occur.' Major epiphytotics of leaf
' Lodging is a condition whereby wheat stems lean, bend, or break
resulting i d sometimes tangled mass that is difficult
to harvest
' An epiphytot-c is t e sudden and destructive development of a
plant disease, usually involving area. It corresponds to
an epidemic of a human disease
25X1
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Table 5
Resistance of Selected Zoned Soviet Varieties of
Winter and Spring Wheat to the Most Widely
Occurring Diseases and Pests a
Stem Leaf Stripe Powdery Septoria Scab Smut Loose Hessian
Rust Rust Rust Mildew Disease (Bunt) Smut Fly
Frit
Fly
Wheat or
Spring
Fly
Saw-
flies
Sunn Bug
(Eurygaster
integriceps)
Mironovskaya 808
MS
S
MS
R
R
MS
S
MS
MS
MS
MS
MS
MS
Bezostaya 1
MS
MS
MS
S
S
S
S
MS
MS
MS
MS
MS
MS
Odesskaya 51
S
S
MS
MS
MS
MS
S
MS
S
S
S
MS
MS
Priboy
S
MS
MS
MS
MS
MS
S
MS
S
S
S
MS
MS
Ilichevka
MS
MS
MS
MS
MS
MS
MS
MS
S
S
S
MS
MS
Polesskaya 70
MS
MS
MS
MS
S
MS
S
MS
S
S
S
MS
MS
Kavkaz
R
S
R
S
S
S
S
MS
S
S
S
MS
MS
Dneprovskaya 521
S
S
MS
S
S
S
S
MS
MS
MS
MS
MS
MS
Dneprovskaya 775
S
S
MS
S
S
S
MS
MS
MS
R
MS
MS
MS
Kharkovskaya 63
S
S
MS
S
MS
S
S
MS
MS
MS
MS
MS
MS
Veselopodolyanskaya
S
S
S
S
S
MS
S
MS
MS
MS
MS
MS
MS
Odesskaya Yubileynaya S
MS
S
R
S
MS
R
MS
MS
MS
MS
R
MS
Novomichurinka
S
MS
S
R
S
MS
R
MS
MS
MS
MS
R
MS
Spring wheat
Saratovskaya 29
S
MS
MS
R
S
MS
MS
R
MS
MS
MS
MS
MS
Kharkovskaya 93
S
MS
MS
R
S
MS
MS
R
MS
MS
MS
MS
MS
Rovenskaya
S
MS
S
S
MS
MS
MS
MS
MS
MS
MS
MS
MS
Lyutestsens 491
S
MS
S
MS
MS
MS
MS
MS
MS
MS
MS
MS
MS
Dublyanka 4
S
MS
S
S
MS
S
MS
MS
MS
MS
MS
MS
MS
a Source: Pshenitsa (Wheat), p. 149, Kiev, "Urozhay" Publishing
House, 1977.
R = Resistant
MS = Moderately Susceptible
S = Susceptible
rust occurred on winter wheat in Krasnodar Kray, the
North Caucasus, the Ukraine, and the Nonchernozem
Zone in 1973-76 and in 1980. CIA analysts estimated
the loss in yield from the 1976 potential to be more
than 8 million tons. In the Central Chernozem Zone,
leaf rust infection is one of the most serious causes of
yield reductions in winter wheat.)
The case is the same for spring wheats. In the
Nonchernozem Zone leaf rust occurs almost every
year. Severe outbreaks occurred in 1974 and 1976.
When infection occurs early, losses of 30 to 50 percent
can be sustained in affected areas. As of 1978,
Saratovskaya 46 was the only spring wheat that
posse d significant resistance to any of the wheat
rusts.
25
25
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Most Soviet winter and spring wheat varieties are also
susceptible to smut disease. Smut losses in the Central
Region (Nonchernozem Zone) in recent years have
been high and are estimated by the Soviets to average
not less than 100,000 tons, more than 4 percent
annually: Mironovskaya 808 is especially susceptible
to a common type of smut called bunt. Larger-than-
usual outbreaks of smut occurred in 1974 through
1976. More recently, large amounts of smut-contami-
nated grain have been delivered to the state from
farms in the Ukraine (Ternopol, Poltava, Kirovgrad,
and Odessa Oblasts), Latvia, and Kazakhstan
Relatively few winter or spring wheat varieties are
resistant to powdery mildew, the root rots, wheat
scab, and Septoria disease. Powdery mildew is com-
mon in the USSR. Outbreaks of the disease have
become increasingly severe in areas producing high-
yielding varieties of winter wheat, particularly where
fertilizer usage is high. The disease is also prevalent in
spring wheat areas in the Volga Valley, Kazakhstan,
the Southern Urals, Western Siberia, and Altay Kray.
Root rots thrive where wheat is planted on the same
areas in consecutive crop seasons and where minimum
tillage occurs. Yield losses in spring wheat can run
from 15 to 30 percent. In the wet year of 1976, losses
exceeded 50 percent in many areas of the Noncherno-
zem Zone. Septoria disease occurs in parts of the
Ukraine, Belorussia, the Baltic republics, and the
Nonchernozem Zone, where severe outbreaks have
led to losses of 15 to 20 percent
Insect Problems. Soviet winter and spring wheats are
highly susceptible to insect infestation-particularly
by the Hessian fly, the frit fly, wheat flies, sawflies,
and the Sunn bug (Eurygaster). The Hessian fly is
present in the European USSR, Siberia, and the
Central Asian republics. It is most harmful in the
Ukraine, and serious outbreaks can result in grain
losses of 15 to 20 percent. The frit fly is most harmful
in spring wheat regions. Wheat flies are a problem in
both West and East Siberia, where they have been
responsible for yield reductions of 20 to 30 percent.
Sawflies occur in both the winter and spring wheat
areas, and in recent years they have caused great
damage to winter wheat in Krasnodar and Stavropol
Krays. Eurygaster, which occurs in practically all
grain-growing regions, may lower yields by 600 to 700
kilograms per hectare in addition to severely reducing
the quality of wheat
Breeding for Resistance
Diseases. The development of genetic resistance to
various wheat diseases is one of the major problems of
modern Soviet wheat breeding. The Krasnodar Insti-
tute of Agriculture has been foremost in developing
disease-resistant varieties of winter wheat. In the
period from 1960 to 1963, it initiated a research effort
to introduce rust resistance into the Bezostaya line. As
a result the high-yielding Avrora and Kavkaz varie-
ties, which incorporated resistance to the then-pre-
dominant leaf rust races, were developed in 1967 and
zoned in 1971. These varieties were widely touted as
having complex resistance to all wheat rusts and to
several other wheat diseases. They were rapidly
adopted: 180,000 hectares were planted in 1971, 1.7
million hectares in 1972, and 3.8 million hectares in
1973.
In 1973, only two years after their introduction, the
rust resistance of these two varieties was overcome by
an extremely rapid epiphytotic appearance of a new
aggressive biotype of race 77 of the leaf rust patho-
gen. As a result of the epiphytotic, winter wheat yields
were reduced by 25 to 50 percent (figure 2). A leaf
rust epiphytotic occurred again during the 1974-75
crop year in a wider area, reducing yields as much as
20 percent. As a result the area sown to Avrora was
reduced by 1.4 million hectares for the 1975-76 crop
year, during which another leaf rust outbreak oc-
curred. These outbreaks were major setbacks from
which the Soviet wheat-breeding program has not yet
fully recovered. They resulted largely from the failure
of breeders to use the rust research of Soviet plant
pathologists. The continuing threat of leaf rust losses
because of the lack of resistant varieties was made
evident by yet another epiphytotic that occurred in
1980 in the North Caucasus, Ukraine, Central Cher-
nozem Zone, and other winter wheat areas
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 I Northwest
11 Central
III Central Chernozem
IV Volga-Vyatka
V North Caucasus
VI Volga
Leaf Rust
VII Ural
VIII West Siberia
IX East Siberia
X Far East
XI Baltic
XII Southwest
XIII Donets-Dnepr
XIV South
XV Transcaucasus
XVI Kazakhstan
XVII Central Asia
XVIII Belorussia
The United States Government has not recognized
the incorporation of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania
into the Soviet Union. Other boundary representation
is not necessarily authoritative.
Figure 1
Soviet Union: Frequ ncy of Occurrence of Wheat Rust Epiphytotics
Pe frequency of occurrence
1 out of every 2 years
1 out of every 3 years
1 out of every 5 years
1 out of every 10 years
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Figure 2
Soviet Union: Wheat Leaf Rust Epiphytotic, 1973
Infection 20 to 80 percent
Yield losses 10 to 50 percent
Infection less than 20 percent
Yield losses I to 8 percent
Baltic
Sea
Baltic
Volga-Vyatkkaa
West
~Sseria
The United States Governms`kfAs'not recognized
the iriserporation of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania
into the Sov`t Union_ Other boundary representation
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The wheat-breeding department at Krasnodar orga-
nized a special laboratory for insect and disease
resistance in 1975. The laboratory's staff of plant
pathologists and entomologists concentrates on the
development of winter wheat resistance to rusts,
powdery mildew, the root rots, and wheat scab dis-
ease, as well as to wheat sawflies and wheat leaf
beetles. Rust nurseries have been set up to determine
race composition and to detect new, dangerous races
of rust. Genes determining reactions to specific races
are being identified. A major goal is to develop winter
wheat varieties with both nonspecific and multiple-
race resistance to wheat rusts and other diseases by
pyramiding genes. The laboratory emphasizes close
integration of the work of breeders, pathologists, and
entomologists
The Krasnodar Institute of Agriculture has been at
the forefront in organizing the direct participation of
pathologists and entomologists with breeders in breed-
ing for insect and disease resistance, and efforts are
being made to implement a similar team approach in
at least two other breeding centers. Since 1976 the
Scientific-Research Institute of Agriculture for the
Central Region of the Nonchernozem Zone, as evi-
denced by its published research, has been gradually
developing a teamwork approach to winter wheat
disease resistance, and the Zernogradka Selection
Center (VolLya reLyion) is initiating a similar effort,
As of
1981, however, the majority of other wheat-breeding
centers had not followed suit
Breeding for disease and insect resistance in spring
wheat is even more seriously lacking in the USSR.
Only a few sporadic efforts have been made over the
last decade. Among the spring wheats grown in the
major Soviet spring wheat area, only Saratovskaya 46
(zoned in 1977) has any significant resistance to rust
diseases. For a more detailed assessment of Soviet
wheat varieties developed since 1975, see
appendix B.
Lodging. Most Soviet wheat varieties are not suffi-
ciently resistant to lodging. Yield losses of 6 to 15
percent because of lodging are common, and in wet
years losses as great as 50 percent can occur in some
areas. Lodging reduces grain protein content and
results in a sharp deterioration in grain quality. Grain
harvested from lodged areas cannot be used for seed
purposes. In years in which conditions are favorable to
lodging, as many as 10 to 15 million hectares of grain
may be affected. The problem has been exacerbated
in recent years by the increased use of fertilizer and
by other agrotechnical improvements that cause the
wheat plants to become excessively tall and topheavy.
In written discussions of the breeding program, Soviet
breeders cite the reduction of lodgin as one of their
more important breeding objectives
Other than semidwarf varieties introduced from
abroad or developed in the USSR for irrigated plant-
ing, the winter wheat Bezostaya 1 and some of its
derivatives are the best of the Soviet lodging-resistant
wheats. Lodging is still a problem with Bezostaya 1,
however, particularly when this variety is grown
under conditions of intensive fertilization and irriga-
tion. Bezostaya 1 is also susceptible to parasitic
lodging caused by root rot fungi. The other major
variety of winter wheat, Mironovskaya 808, is a tall
plant (100 to 130 cm) and is thus also highly suscepti-
ble to lodging. The major spring wheat variety,
Saratovskaya 29, is susceptible to lodging in years of
abundant moisture
The Soviets emphasize that one of the most effective
ways of increasing lodging resistance and productive-
ness is to develop short-stemmed varieties of wheat.
For winter wheat in the USSR, they have determined
that 80 to 90 centimeters (cm) is the optimal height.
Hence, the relatively short-stemmed Bezostaya 1 (95
to 110 cm) has been used almost exclusively in crosses
that attempt to increase the lodging resistance in
Soviet winter wheats that are tall but otherwise
possess desirable traits. This effort has produced
Mironovskaya Jubilee, Ilichevka, Odesskaya 51, Pri-
boy, and Severodonskaya. Most of these derivatives,
while displaying increased lodging resistance, still
remain more susceptible to lod in than their short
parent Bezostaya 1.1
The Soviets have investigated the use of semidwarf
varieties (65 to 75 cm) from Mexico and the United
States to develop short-stemmed varieties of spring
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and winter wheat. They have approved several foreign
varieties for planting directly, primarily under ir-
rigated conditions.
Dwarf mutants have been developed by the Soviets
and utilized to produce winter wheat varieties such as
Polukarlikov 49. Most of these are true semidwarf
varieties, developed primarily for the production of
wheat under irrigation. Both winter and spring varie-
ties resist lodging on irrigated fields and are highly
responsive to increased fertilizer inputs. Their poten-
tial impact on total wheat production is minimal,
however, since only a small percentage of the wheat in
the USSR is produced on irrigated land-1.3 million
hectares in 1980.
We consider it unlikely that semidwarf varieties,
whether developed in the USSR or abroad, will be
widely adopted for nonirrigated wheat-growing areas
of the USSR. Although semidwarf wheats produce
high yields under favorable water and fertility levels,
they generally do not do so under conditions of
environmental stress. Hence, it appears that the Sovi-
ets will opt for developing medium hei ht 85 to 100
cm) grains with strong sturdy stems
Winterhardiness. The yield of winter wheat is heavily
dependent upon the stand density of wheat remaining
viable after a severe winter. Large winterkill losses
are frequent in the USSR, averaging 15 to 20 percent;
in severe winters as many as one-third of the plants
perish. It is this factor that delimits the growing areas
of the two major varieties. Mironovskaya 808 is
planted primarily in the northern half of the winter
wheat area because of its winterhardiness, while
Bezostaya 1, lacking in winterhardiness, is planted in
the southern areas (southern Ukraine, the Caucasus,
and the southern Volga region). For a comparison of
the winterhardiness of Soviet wheats, see table 6.E
The causes of injury and winterkill in overwintering
wheat differ somewhat for each soil-climatic zone. In
Belorussia, the Baltic republics, and the Noncherno-
zem Zone, plants most often die because of the
reduction of oxygen under heavy snow. In the central
chernozem oblasts, northwestern Ukraine, and the
lower Volga, plant freezing frequently occurs because
of insufficient snow cover. Ice crusting, which also
Table 6
Relative Winterhardiness of Winter Wheat
Varieties Zoned for the North Caucasus and
Rostov and Volgograd Oblasts
Mironovskaya 808 142
Krasnodarskaya 39 142
Mironovskaya Jubilee 136
Odesskaya 51 134
Rostovchanka 132
Donskaya Ostistaya 121
Bezostaya 1 100
Kavkaz 98
Avrora 98
reduces oxygen availability, causes the death of plants
in the central regions of the Ukraine. In several of
these regions combinations of the above factors lead
to winterkill.jI
Soviet efforts to overcome the lack of winterhardiness
in lodging-resistant and high-yielding varieties have
not been particularly successful. Soviet studies of the
winterhardiness of 102 new winter wheat varieties
zoned since 1969 concluded that none of them ex-
ceeded the winterhardiness of Mironovskaya 808 and
Odesskaya 51. Actually, most of the new, high-
yielding, and fertilizer-responsive varieties were defi-
cient in this respect. Soviet breeders have concluded
that a negative correlation exists between winter-
hardiness and high-yielding characteristics. Some US
data on winterhardiness tends to support this conclu-
sioniI
Drought Tolerance. A significant part of the USSR is
frequently subjected to drought-with the southern,
southeastern, and eastern grain-growing regions most
frequently affected. In these regions and in the south-
ern winter wheat region, drought often occurs in
combination with sukhovey (hot, dry winds) during
the critical periods of flowering, filling, and ripening
of grain.
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Soviet efforts to develop drought-tolerant varieties of
wheat were given a higher priority in the 1960s and
1970s than those that focused on pest and disease
resistance. In 1978 about 10 varieties of winter and
spring wheat were drought resistant to some degree.
These included Odesskaya 51, Priboy, Krasnodar-
skaya 39, Donetskaya 74, Dneprovskaya 775, and
Saratovskaya 29 (first zoned in 1959). More recently,
in 1979, Rostovchanka, Donskaya Ostistaya, and
Severodonskaya (winter wheats) were also reported to
be drought resistant and, under special tillage prac-
tices in the Volga region, somewhat tolerant of sukho-
vey conditions
A major and continuing problem in the USSR is the
lack of wheat varieties that are both drought tolerant
and responsive to high moisture in favorable years.
Soviet breeders currently are trying to develop such
varieties
Prospects
Few positive trends have been apparent in Soviet
breeding research in recent years. The basic biological
yield potential of the newer winter wheat varieties is
similar to that of Bezostaya 1 and Mironovskaya 808,
both first zoned for planting about two decades ago.
The same is true for spring wheats: no new varieties
have been developed to challenge the predominance of
Saratovskaya 29. Furthermore, the susceptibility of
both winter and spring wheats to disease and insects
has not been significantly improved in the last 10 to
20 years. See appendix B for a more detailed assess-
ment of the Soviet wheat varieties developed since
1975
Current Soviet breeding efforts thus will not have a
major impact on wheat production in the near future
(up to 1985). Yield increases during this time will
largely reflect technological inputs-including fertil-
izer, plant protection chemicals, herbicides, growth
retardants, and improved farming techniques-rather
than biological inputs. Even if a major breakthrough
in the development of higher yielding varieties should
occur suddenly, which is extremely unlikely, the
initial impact of these varieties on production would
not be evident before 1985, and the full impact not
before the late 1980s, because of the time required for
testing, introduction, and seed multiplication.
We estimate that the USSR could reduce its annual
wheat losses from insects, diseases, and lodging by
some 10 to 20 million tons within the next 10 years.
The potential reduction reflects possible gains, not
from the introduction of high-yielding varieties, but
from the development of genetically improved wheat
varieties with increased resistance to these biological
and environmental hazards. To achieve these gains,
however, the Soviets must overcome the numerous
shortcomings that have plagued their wheat develop-
ment program in the past.
In the future the Soviets are likely first to give high
priority to and make significant progress in breeding
for insect and disease resistance, for this is the area of
greatest deficiency. It is also the area of greatest
promise because of the availability of sources of
resistance in the Soviet germ plasm collection. In view
of Soviet efforts to achieve high yields through in-
creased fertilizer inputs, improvements in developing
lodging-resistant varieties are also likely. Since Soviet
wheat breeders have not adequately exploited the
available wheat germ plasm of shorter and stronger
stemmed wheats, it is believed that substantial prog-
ress can and probably will be made in this research
area before the end of the decade
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Appendix A
Vulnerability of Soviet Wheat
Genetic Diversity
In the USSR two varieties of winter wheat and one
variety of spring wheat are predominant. Moreover,
the germ plasm of these varieties has been extensively
used to develop many other wheats of lesser conse-
quence.
The predominant winter wheats are Bezostaya 1
(zoned in 1957) and Mironovskaya 808 (zoned in
1963). Together they accounted for 50 percent of the
winter wheat sown in 1980. The third-ranking winter
wheat, based on area planted, is Odesskaya 51, which
has been sown on about 14 percent of the total USSR
winter wheat area since 1978. Ranking fourth is
Severodonskaya. In 1980 it was planted on 1.27
million hectares, 6 to 7 percent of the total sown
winter wheat area.
Both Bezostaya 1 and Mironovskaya 808 have been
utilized widely in the development of new varieties of
winter wheat (tables 7 and 8). Since 1959, 78 varieties
have been developed from crosses involving Bezostaya
1 or its initial variety, Bezostaya 4. At least 18 of
these have been zoned since 1975. In the past 17
years, Mironovskaya 808 has been utilized in crosses
to develop about 40 varieties of winter wheat; at least
nine crosses were with Bezostaya 1. Four of the 40
have been zoned since 1975.
Saratovskaya 29 (zoned in 1957) has dominated the
total area planted to common spring wheat since
1970, when it was planted on some 16.7 million
hectares. During the period from 1975 to 1980, nearly
96 percent of the spring wheat fields of Kazakhstan
were planted to Saratovskaya 29. In one Kazakhstan
oblast (Kustanay), Saratovskaya 29 has been under
cultivation for more than 22 years.
Saratovskaya 29 also has been used extensively as one
of the parents of at least a dozen other spring wheats,
of which five have been zoned since 1975. It is
estimated that some 60 percent of nondurum spring
wheat grown in the USSR contains the germ plasm of
Saratovskaya 29.
During the period of 1976-80, about 35 new varieties
of spring wheat were zoned. By 1979 some 25 of them
were sown on nearly 10 million hectares, 25.5 percent
of the total area sown to spring wheat in the USSR
that year. Thus, even though Saratovskaya 29 re-
mains the major spring wheat, much of the spring
wheat area is undergoing change in its varietal make-
up. The impact of any one of the new varieties on total
spring wheat production is limited, however, because
of the number of varieties involved and the small area
occupied by each of them.
The current basic durum spring wheat in the USSR is
Kharkovskaya 46, which was first released in 1957. It
accounts for about 80 to 90 percent of all of the
durum wheat produced in the USSR. The total area
planted to durum wheat, once 3 to 4 million hectares,
has fallen in recent years to 1.5 to 2.0 million
hectares.
Genetic Vulnerability
Plant breeding improvements frequently lead to
greater genetic uniformity, and this, in turn, produces
a genetic environment that favors the development of
destructive races of pathogens or strains of insects.
Varieties that are genetically uniform are also usually
less able to cope with severe climatic stress. Thus, the
extended dominance of Bezostaya 1 and Mironov-
skaya 808 among the winter wheats and Saratovskaya
29 among the spring wheats would appear to render
each of them vulnerable to possible genetic assault.
There is little evidence to suggest a major Soviet
breeding effort to reduce genetic uniformity in any of
the major growing areas. At present about 90 percent
of the zoned Soviet winter wheat varieties contain the
germ plasm of Bezostaya 1 or Mironovskaya 808, or
both. More than 70 percent of the number of prospec-
tive winter wheat varieties accepted for state testing
during the 1970s were developed from one or both of
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Table 7
Partial Listing of Soviet Wheat Varieties
Developed From Bezostaya 1 or
Bezostaya 4 Germ Plasm
Using Bezostaya 1
A.khtyrchanka (1978)
Mironovskaya 808
Ilichevka (1974)
Mironovskaya 808
Avrora (1971)
Lutescens 314-h-1417
Kavkaz (1971)
Lutescens 314-h-1417
Bezostaya 2 (1971)
Lutescens 314-h-1417
Severodonskaya (1977)
Lutescens 314-h-1417
Prikumskaya 36 (1976)
Lutescens 314-h-1417
Kharkovskaya 63 (1969)
Lutescens 314-h-1417
Kharkovskaya 68 (1973)
Lutescens 314-h-1417
Soyuz 50 (1975)
Lutescens 314-h-1417
Zagadka 44 (1971)
Lutescens 314-h-1417
Nadezhnaya (1971)
Lutescens 314-h-1417
Priboy (1972)
Odesskaya 16
Odesskaya 51 (1969)
Odesskaya 16
Krasnodarskaya 46 (1976)
Odesskaya 16
Yuzhanka (1973)
Odesskaya 16 and
Belotserkovskaya 198
Stepnaya 40 (1973)
Odesskaya 16
Yuzhnoukrainka (1973)
Odesskaya 16 and 22
Omskaya 9 (1979) 8
Saratovskaya 29
Sibakovskaya 3 (1980) a
Saratovskaya 29
Shadrinskaya (1979) a
Saratovskaya 29
Moskovskaya 21 (1972) a
Minskaya
Moskovskaya 35(1972)8
Minskaya
Plamya (1975) a
(Minskaya x Diamant)
Oktyabr (1962)
(Bezostaya 4 x Tambovchanka)
Voskhod (1962)
(Bezostaya 4 x Tambovchanka)
Lutescens 259 (1962)
(Bezostaya 4 x Tambovchanka)
Dneprovskaya 440 (1971)
Veselopodolyanskaya 682
Dneprovskaya 510 (1971)
Veselopodolyanskaya 682
Polyet (1971)
Donetskaya 74 (1976)
Kharkovskaya 63-1-3 (1969)
Krupnokolosaya (1974)
Krasnodarskaya 39 (1972)
Polukarlik 1 (1974)
Predgornaya 2
Skorospelka 35
Lutescens 4 (Intensivnaya)
(1978)
Erythrospermum 127 (1977)
Polukarlikova 49 (1979)
Belotserkovskaya 47 (1981)
Zaporozhskaya Ostistaya
(1980)
Khersonskaya 153 (1979)
Tezpishar (1980)
Kharkovskaya 81
Belotserkovskaya 177 (1979)
Novostepnyachka 50 (1974)
Kazakhstan 50 (1974)
Zhana Zhulduz (1974)
Polesskaya 70 (1974)
Veselopodolyanskaya 682
Lutescens 238
Lutescens 238
Lutescens 238
Saratovskaya 3
Saratovskaya 3
Erythrospermum 315-h-60
Erythrospermum 315-h-60
Kazakhstan 126 and Kirgizskaya
Spontaneous hybrid with
Bezostaya 1
Lutescens 230,
Veselopodolyanskaya 499 and 485
Vygodyanskaya 2
Mutant (Krasnodar Karlik) x
Mironovskaya 808
Belotserkovskaya 198 and 21
Skorospelka L-1, Zaporozhskaya 4
Dneprovskaya 537
Grekum 646
Lutescens 172
(Belotserkovskaya 198 x
Belotserkovskaya 23)
Odesskaya 29
Odesskaya 29
Odesskaya 29
Winter rye (Tatsinskaya Golubaya)
endosperm
Winter rye (Tatsinskaya Golubaya)
endosperm
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Table 7 (continued)
MD 2387 (1969)
MD 2328 (1969)
Krasnodarskaya 1 (1973) b
Mechta (1975) a
Donskaya Ostistaya (1975)
Severokubanskaya 43 (1970)
Soyuz 50 (1974)
Using Bezostaya 4
Mironovskaya Jubilee 50
(1971)
Ilichevka (1974)
Dan'shinskaya (1976)
Stepova (1967)
Chernomorskaya 406/70
(1973)
Chernomorskaya 468/70
(1973)
Chernomorskaya 478/70
(1973)
Zernogradskaya 4 (1965)
Zernogradskaya 5
Gloriya (1972)
Skorospelka 35 (1959)
Rannaya 12 (1975)
Kharkovskaya 38 (1974)
Kharkovskaya 81 (1974)
Lutescens 259 (1975)
Dnestrovskaya 25 (1977)
a Spring wheat.
b Spring durum wheat.
Lutescens 62
Pionerka
Krasnodarskaya 362
Krasnodarskaya 362
Local variety 272/59
Lutescens 329
Mironovskaya 808
Mironovskaya 808
Mironovskaya 808
Odesskaya 16
Odesskaya 16
Odesskaya line
Odesskaya line
(Odesskaya 12 x Osetinskaya x
Novoukrainka 84) x (Ukrainka 246
x Erythrospermum 126)
Lutescens 9411
Skorospelka 3
Erythrospermum 88
Lutescens 172
Tambovchanka
Wheat-Agropyron (Pschenichno-
pyreyno) hybrid 186
Table 8
Partial Listing of Soviet Wheat Varieties
Developed From Mironovskaya 808 Germ Plasm
Mironovskaya Yarovaya
(1978)8
Mironovskaya 25 (1980)
Mironovskaya Improved
Mironovskaya Jubilee
(1971)
Akhtyrchanka (1978)
Severodonskaya (1977)
Ilichevka (1974)
Prikumskaya 36 (1976)
Kharkovskaya 68 (1974)
Soyuz 50 (1974)
Kharkovskaya 63 (1969)
Kharkovskaya 159 (1968)
Dan'shinskaya (1976)
Yantar (1962)
Belgorodskaya 5 (1977)
L'govskaya 47(67-47)(1974)
Sibiryachka 4 (1976) a
Omskaya 1 (1972)
Omskaya 6 (1973)
Selection from Mironovskaya 808
Bezostaya 4
Pervenka
Heine VII (foreign variety)
(L'govskaya 2 x line 58-144)
(Sibiryachka 2 x Saratovskaya 29)
Saratovskaya 29
these varieties. It is estimated that at least 60 percent
of the present Soviet spring wheat varieties contain
Saratovskaya 29 germ plasm. Furthermore, there
have been no spring wheat varieties developed to
compete successfully with Saratovskaya 29 over the
last 15 years.
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Appendix B
Assessment of Soviet
Wheat Varieties
Wheat approved for production in the USSR includes
60 to 70 varieties of winter wheat and 100 or more
varieties of spring wheat, including durum. As new
varieties of wheat are tested and approved, others may
be dropped from the approved list. On the average,
since 1975, about seven new varieties of winter and
about seven of spring wheat have been approved
annually.
Winter Wheat
During 1976-81 at least 36 newly developed winter
wheat varieties were approved for planting (table 9).
Only five of these stand out appreciably from the rest.
Severodonskaya (derived from a Bezostaya 1 x Miron-
ovskaya 808 cross) and Akhtyrchanka (derived from a
Mironovskaya 808 x Bezostaya 1 cross) are reported
to be similar to Mironovskaya 808 in winter resistance
and in their tendency to lodge. The other three,
designated for irrigated planting, include two semi-
dwarf varieties, Polukarlikova 49 (bred with a dwarf
mutant of Bezostaya as one parent) and Odesskaya
Polukarlikova, and Khersonskaya 153. All are report-
ed to be fairly winter resistant, lodging resistant,
responsive to fertilization, and susceptible to leaf rust
disease. On the basis of evidence thus far available, it
appears that there have been no major advances in the
development of new winter wheat varieties since 1975.
Spring Wheat
Thirty-five Soviet-developed varieties of spring wheat,
including durum wheats, were approved for planting
during 1976-81 (table 10). At least 10 of these were
derived by crossing Saratovskaya 29 with some other
strain of wheat. Three of the 10 were produced by
crossing Bezostaya 1 with Saratovskaya 29 to achieve
a shorter stemmed wheat. While none of the new
varieties developed up to 1980 appear to be capable of
seriously challenging Saratovskaya 29 in areas where
it is normally planted, four of them merit some
discussion:
Omskaya 9 was approved in 1979 for North Kazakh-
stan, Omsk, and Kokchetav Oblasts, and Krasnoyarsk
Kray. A cross between Bezostaya 1 and Saratovskaya
29, it reportedly yields better than Saratovskaya 29 in
both wet and dry years and is resistant to stem rust,
drought, and lodging. As of 1979 it was planted on
19,300 hectares.
Tselinnaya 20 and 21 were approved in 1978 and
1979 respectively. Tselinnaya 20 is zoned for Altay
Kray, Omsk, Chelyabinsk, and East Kazakhstan Ob-
lasts. It is believed to be derived from the cross of a
US durum (Lakota) with Saratovskaya 29. The deri-
vation of Tselinnaya 21 is not known, but it may be a
selection from Tselinnaya 20 or the result of a cross of
Saratovskaya 29 or Tselinnaya 20 with another vari-
ety. It was approved for Semipalatinsk, Tselinograd,
and Kokchetav Oblasts. Both are reported to outyield
Saratovskaya 29, which they equal in grain quality
and in drought resistance. As of 1979 about 88,500
hectares were planted to Tselinnaya 20 and 22,000
hectares to Tselinnaya 21.
Saratovskaya 46 was approved in 1977 for Saratov
Oblast and in subsequent years for Volgograd, Kuy-
ibyshev, Ulanovsk, Kustanay, Chelyabinsk, and Voro-
nezh Oblasts. It may be the result of a cross of
Saratovskaya 29 with Saratovskaya 36 or 38. Its short
stature (65 to 80 cm) suggests that the other parent
may have been a foreign short-stem variety. Resistant
to lodging and with good drought tolerance, it is
moderately susceptible to leaf rust. While it is unlike-
ly to compete with Saratovskaya 29, it can compete
with Saratovskaya 38 and 36 in the Volga region. In
1979, however, only 41,000 hectares of Saratovskaya
46 were planted.
Feedwheat
The USSR, already using a good portion of its wheat
crop (40 percent in recent years) for livestock and
poultry feeding, has considered developing feed-
wheats for use in Siberia and certain other selected
areas.' Efforts to date, however, have been minimal.
' Feedwheats, which are high in protein, give 15 to 20 percent
higher yields than breadwheats, but the grain does not meet
breadwheat quality standards.
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Table 9
Soviet Winter Wheat Varieties
Approved for Zoning Since 1975
Year
Krasnodarskaya 46
Krasnodar NII of Agriculture
Northern Krasnodar Kray
Donetskaya 74
Donets State Oblast Experiment Station
Donets Oblast
Prikumskaya 36
Budennovsk State Experiment-Selection Station
Stavropol Kray
Krasnovodopadskaya 210
Krasnovodopad State Selection Station
Kirgizia and semiarid
Kazakhstan
Leukurum 3
Uzbek NII of Dryland Farming
Three oblasts in Uzbekistan
Dneprovskaya 775
All-Union NII of Corn
Dnepropetrovsk Oblast
1977
Severodonskaya
Zernograd Selection Station
Rostov Oblast
Belgorodskaya 5
Institute of Animal Husbandry, Central Chernozem
Belgorod Oblast
Erythrospermum 127
Odessa Agricultural Institute
Moldavian SSR
Dnestrovskaya 25
Moldavian NII of Field Crops
Moldavian SSR
1978
Akhtyrchanka
Ivanov Experiment-Selection Station
Cherkassk and Sumsk Oblasts
Zarya
NII of Agriculture, Central Region, Chernozem Zone
Vatan a
Central Asian Selection Center
Lutescens 4
(Intensivnaya)
Ostrastayushchaya 38
Main Botanical Garden, Academy of Sciences USSR
Belgorod and Gorkiy Oblasts
Starke II
Sweden
Polukarlikov 49
Krasnodar NII of Agriculture
Southern Ukraine (irrigation)
Khersonskaya 153
Ukrainian NII of Irrigated Farming
Southern Ukraine (irrigation)
Belotserkovskaya 177
Belotserkov Experiment-Selection Station
Zakarpatsk Oblast
Gurgyana 1
Azerbaijan NII of Farming
Azerbaijan SSR
Mugan
Azerbaijan NII of Farming
Azerbaijan SSR
Erythrospermum 80
Kirgiz NII of Farming
Kirgiz SSR
Odesskaya Polukarlikova
All-Union Selection-Genetics Institute, Odessa
Odessa Oblast
Zaporozhskaya Ostistaya
Zaporozh Agricultural Experiment Station
Zaporozh Oblast (irrigation)
Dneprovskaya 846
All-Union NII of Corn
Mironovskaya 25
Mironovka NII Selection and Seedgrowing of Wheat
Tezpishar
Uzbek NII of Grain
Tashkent Oblast
Severokubanka
Krasnodar NII of Agriculture
Rostov Oblast (irrigation)
Zernogradka 2
Zernograd Selection Station
Kharkovskaya 81
Ukrainian NII of Plant Industry
L'govskaya 77
L'gov Experiment-Selection Station
Ivanovskaya 12
Ivanov Experiment-Selection Station
Belotserkovskaya 47
Belotserkov Experiment-Selection Station
Bogarnaya 56
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Table 10
Soviet Spring Wheat Varieties
Approved for Zoning Since 1975
1976
Kinel 30
Kinel State Selection Station
Saratovskaya 44
NII of Agriculture of Southeast
Sayanskaya 55
Khakassk Agricultural Experiment Station
Sibiryachka 4
Siberian NII of Agriculture
World Seeds 1877
US
1977
Buryatskaya 34
Buryat Selection Station
Lutescens 47
Blagoveshchensk Agriculture Institute
Niva
Omsk Agriculture Institute
Primorskaya 14
Primorsk Agricultural Experiment Station
Saratovskaya 46
NII of Agriculture of Southeast
1978
Volzhanka
Voroshilovgrad Oblast Agricultural
Experiment Station
Mironovskaya Yarovaya
Mironovka NII Selection and Seedgrowing
of Wheat
Orenburgskaya 1
NII of Agriculture of the Southeast
Rannyaya 73
Ukraine NII of Farming
Ruso
Tselinnaya 20
All-Union NII of Grain Farming
Erythrospermum 24
Krasnodar NII of Agriculture
1979
Bezenchukskaya 129
Kuybyshev NII of Agriculture
Kutulukskaya
Kinel State Selection Station
Almaz (durum)
Siberian NII of Agriculture
Omskaya 9
Siberian NII of Agriculture
Lutescens 57
Karabalyk Agricultural Experiment Station
Kazakhstanskaya 3
Kazakh NII of Farming
Kurgan NII of Grain Farming and Shadrinsk
Agricultural Experiment Station
Karagandinskaya 2
Karagandinsk Agricultural Experiment Station
Tselinnaya 21
All-Union Institute of Grain Farming
Kuybyshev Oblast
Altay Kray and Saratov, Volgo-
grad, Kuyibyshev, Chelyabinsk,
and Voronezh Oblasts
Krasnoyarsk Kray (irrigation)
Omsk Oblast
Saratov Oblast (irrigation)
Buryat ASSR and Chitinsk
Oblast
Amur Oblast
Omsk Oblast
Primorsk Kray
Saratov Oblast
Voroshilovgrad Oblast and Al-
tay Kray
Overseeding in winter, Ukraine
Altay Kray, Omsk, East
Kazakhstan, and Chelyabinsk
Oblasts
Ulyanovsk Oblast
Kuybyshev Oblast
Kuybyshev Oblast
N. Kazakhstan and Omsk
Oblasts
Krasnoyarsk Kray, Omsk,
Kokchetav, and North Kazakh-
stan Oblasts
Novosibirsk Oblast
Kazakhstan
Kurgan Oblast
Karagandinsk and Pavlodar
Oblasts
Semipalatinsk, Tselinograd, and
Kokchetav Oblasts
Approved For Release 2007/02/16: CIA-RDP83B00851 R000300160002-5
 Approved For Release 2007/02/16: CIA-RDP83B00851 R000300160002-5
Table 10
Soviet Spring Wheat Varieties
Approved for Zoning Since 1975 (continued)
1980
Bezenchukskaya 139 Kuybyshev NII of Agriculture
Kuybyshev Oblast
Sredneuralskaya Krasnoufimsk Selection Station
Sverdlovsk Oblast
Sibakhovskaya 3 Omsk Agricultural Institute
Altayka
1981
Priobskaya Siberian NII of Plant Industry and Selection
Novosibirsk Oblast
Rossiyanka South Ural NII of Farming
Urals
Irtyshanka Siberian NII of Agriculture
Novosibirsk Oblast
Thus far the Soviets are known to have tested feed-
wheat obtained from the United States, as well as a
feedwheat reportedly developed at the Mironovka
station. No further information on these two varieties
is available.
A winter wheat, Kormovaya 30, was submitted for
testing in 1979. It is possible that it could be a fodder
wheat, a wheat in which the whole plant is used for
green fodder. A small percentage of Soviet winter
wheat is grown for that purpose. If Kormovaya 30 is a
feedwheat, it will undoubtedly undergo several more
years of testing.
In 1980 the Soviets reported that the All-Union
Selection and Genetics Institute had developed a
feedwheat called Odesskaya Zernofurazhnaya. In
tests it exceeded the yield of Bezostaya I by 32
percent, and the grain contained 15.5 percent protein.
There is no evidence at this time, however, to suggest
that this wheat has been approved for planting.
Approved For Release 2007/02/16: CIA-RDP83B00851 R000300160002-5
 Approved For Release 2007/02/16: CIA-RDP83B00851 R000300160002-5
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