Adaptability Assessment of Spring Chaffy Oats for Yield and Grain Quality under the Environmental Conditions of Kirov Oblast

Abstract

The work was carried out with the aim of evaluating the varieties and lines of spring oats for their ability to give stable high-quality grain yields in Kirov oblast and to identify promising highly adaptive genotypes that fully realize their yield potential under changing environmental conditions. The material for the study was 11 varieties and promising lines. The Krechet variety included in the State Register was used as a standard. The experiments were carried out in 2020–2022. The closest to the optimal conditions for the growth and development of oats were seen in 2020 and 2022, when the duration of the period from sprouting to heading of panicles averaged 46 and 52 days, and the average yield was 6.18 and 6.21 t/ha, respectively. The highest yields were shown by the promising lines 91h18 (6.14 t/ha) and 41h18 (5.78 t/ha), which exceeded the Krechet standard by 0.95 and 0.59 t/ha, respectively. The line 91h18 also showed high levels of plasticity (b_i = 1.13) and stability ($S_{i}^{2}$ = 0.00) for the yield trait. Sufficiently high plasticity and stability for yield (b_i = 1.12 and $S_{i}^{2}$ = 0.01) and grain quality indices (b_i = 1.12 and $S_{i}^{2}$ = 0.20 for protein content and b_i = 1.11 and $S_{i}^{2}$ = 0.00 for fat content) was demonstrated by the intensive type Medved’ variety. High plasticity (b_i = 1.42) and stability ($S_{i}^{2}$ = 0.00) for the grain protein content trait were observed in the line 162h15. The highest fat content in grain (5.3–5.6%) was demonstrated by the lines 178h13, 4h14, and 41h18. Almost every studied variety and line showed high stability for this trait ($S_{i}^{2}$ = 0.00–0.21). A decrease in the grain quality indices was observed with increasing plasticity and stability for yield along with a highly significant negative relationship between protein content in grain and yield (r = –0.83). A highly significant positive relationship between the length of the sprouting–heading of panicle period and HTC (r = 0.97) and yield (r = 0.79) was found.