Duration of the growing season of soybean accessions from the VIR collection under irrigation in the Lower Volga region

Background. Soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) is one of the major oilseed crops in Russia and around the world. An increase in soybean cultivation areas is possible through expansion of the crop to the north as well as to arid southern regions.

The purpose of the research was a comparative evaluation of soybean accessions from the VIR collection under irrigation in the Lower Volga region for the subsequent use in breeding work. The objectives included identifying promising donors of traits of economic and breeding importance, including the optimal duration of the growing season (90–110 days).

Materials and methods. Fifty-six early-maturing soybean accessions from the VIR collection have been selected for research The methodology for studying the VIR grain legume genetic resource collection was employed. The collection nursery was laid out in the experimental field of the All-Russian Research Institute of Organic Farming (Volgograd city) The HTC of the soybean growing season was 0.3.

Results. Under atypical conditions of 2024, the lengthening of the total growing season duration was noted for most accessions, to 109 days on an average, as well as of individual interphase periods, e.g. ‘flowering – filling’ and ‘filling – full ripeness’ periods. The longest inter-phase period  was up to 70 days. The total duration of the growing season of the studied accessions varied from 78 to 122 days. The dates of ripening corresponding to those of the early-ripening group were demonstrated by eight accessions, while thirteen accessions fell into the mid-early group.

Conclusion. In the soil and climatic conditions of the southern part of the Lower Volga region, 21 soybean accessions out of 56 studied ones were selected for further breeding for early ripeness.

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