Breeding Spring Soft Wheat for Productivity, Grain Quality, and Resistance to Adverse External Factors in Nothern Kazakhstan

Spring wheat is the main export crop in Kazakhstan. The main share of the grain sold on the world market is the grain of spring wheat grown in Northern Kazakhstan, where the acreage used for this crop reaches 85%, which is about 10 mln ha. Moisture deficiency is the main limiting factor in increasing the yield of spring wheat; in this region, the average annual precipitation is 320–350 mm. Droughts of varying intensity have periodically occurred 2–3 times within the previous five years. Therefore, the yield variability is high and reaches 30% or more. Another reason for the low yield is the occurrence of wheat diseases. Brown rust and Septoria blight are the most common diseases in the region. Upon the joint manifestation of these diseases, the loss of grain yield may reach 30–40%. The research was aimed at creating a drought-resistant, productive, high-quality variety of spring wheat adapted to changes in the environmental conditions. The method of studying has been generally adopted in breeding and genetic studies. In the competitive grade testing, 40 promising lines of spring soft wheat were studied. Line 371/06 had an average yield of 2.54 t/ha, which was higher by 0.48 t/ha than in the standard, and ripened at this level. Over the three years of study, this line has significantly exceeded the Astana variety in terms of the yield. Line 371/06, which has Lr37/Sr38 genes in its genotype, is characterized by group resistance to brown and stem rust. The content of protein in this line amounted on average to 15.22%, which was by 1.38% higher than in the standard Astana variety. By the gluten content, the excess over the standard reached 2.8%. Over the three years of studying the 40 spring wheat lines, line 371/06 has been chosen, which is high-yielding, resistant to droughts, leaf and stem rust, and is of high grain quality. In 2018, line 371/06 was sent for state grade testing under the name of Taymas.