One of the provisions for increase of grain production and improvement of grain quality of wheat is the introduction of new high-yielding and high- quality varieties into farms. For this purpose Georgian RI of Agriculture carries out research of various breeding materials received from CIMMYT and other international organizations, and also of varieties kept in local nurseries. Breeders of the institute carry out phenological observations of bread wheat varieties and study such important production and biological characteristics as plant height, length of spike, grain weight, yield and wet gluten content. The nurseries were planted at the experimental station of Georgian RI of Agriculture located in the Mukhrani lowland at 550 meters above the sea level and characterized by brown meadow irrigated soils. Pre-sowingtillage, application of mineral fertilizers, irrigation and crop management were carried out in line with the agricultural guidelines, developed for the given zone. During the field trials the weather conditions strongly varied allowing for differentiation of the entries in respect of reaction to diseases and pest resistance. Especially notable was the season of 2002-2003, when strong epidemic of yellow rust enabled easy selection of resistant lines. As a result of 4 years of research the authors have advanced 4 promising varieties. Almasi -T1: aestivum, var. erithrospermum was developed in Breeding department of RI of Agriculture through crossing of mutant forms of bread wheat. The plant is of 105 cm average height, has good disease and lodging resistance, is not prone to shattering of grain, is easily thrashed and therefore is suitable for mechanized harvesting. The grain is large, oval, of a reddish shade, weight of 1000 grains is 48.0 gr, gluten content is 34.0 %, average yield 6.2 tons per hectare. Winter bread wheat Almasi was submitted to State Committee for Protection of Plant Breeding Achievements in 2003. Winter bread wheat SOM\1 D 13, remarkable for high adaptation to local conditions, was selected from nursery 5EYTIR (# 9), received from CIMMYT. The plant height is 85 cm, spikes are of straw color, awned, with 62 grains per spike unavarage. Weight of 1000 grains is 41.8 g, average yield is about 6.1 tons per hectare. Prinia (Tr aestivum, var erithrospermum) was selected from 12HRWSN (#I). The plant is comperatively short, with average height being equal to 80 cm. It is highly resistante to diseases. It is grain large and oval, with54 grains per spike Weight of 1000 grains is 45.3 g, gluten content 35 %, average yield 4.4 tons per hectare. Zander-13 was selected from 5EYTIR (# 6). Winter wheat, with 100 cm height, characterized by high disease resistance and awned spikes of straw color. It is weight of 1000 grains is 38.8 g, average yield is about 4.2 tons per hectare.

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0407|AGRIS 0401|AL-Wheat Program

CIMMYT Staff Publications Collection