FATER Academy of India

Features of Oilseeds Breeding in Ukraine

The growth of demand for vegetable fats during the 90s led to a change in the distribution of sown areas of the agricultural sector of Ukraine. A significant share in the structure of sown areas was occupied by oilseeds, of which the most common is sunflower. Currently, the country sows about 6 million hectares of sunflower, the share of soybeans is approaching 2 million hectares, and rapeseed - up to 800 thousand hectares. At the same time, in recent years it was possible to increase the yield of rapeseed, it has already exceeded 2.8 tons per hectare. Soybean and sunflower yields are 2 and 2.5 tons per hectare, respectively. The largest producers of rapeseed are the countries of the European Union. Every year they grow almost 30% of world production. The leading producers of rapeseed are Canada with a production volume of 18.5 million tons, China - 13.5 million tons and India - 7.0 million tons, which are also the largest consumers of this seed.

In terms of oil production in Ukraine, rapeseed is inferior to sunflower and soybeans. Data from the State Statistics Committee show that the area under rapeseed in 2018 was 1,042 thousand hectares, or twice as much as in the previous year. Gross seed production - 2.19 million tons.

In Ukraine, winter rape is grown mainly. Its share in the structure of sown areas is about 90%. The average yield of winter rape in recent years is 26.5 c / ha, spring - at 17.4 c / ha.

The largest areas under winter oilseed rape for the 2019 harvest are concentrated in Odessa (209.9 thousand hectares), Dnipro (116.2 thousand hectares), Kherson (89.5 thousand hectares), Mykolaiv (84.5 thousand hectares) ), Vinnytsia (79.74 thousand hectares), Ternopil (76.0 thousand hectares), Khmelnytsky (72.5 thousand hectares) and Zaporizhia (69.4 thousand hectares) regions.

The seed market in Ukraine is actively developing. In the market of rapeseed in Ukraine from 47 varieties of domestic selection NAAS is represented by 39 registered varieties and hybrids, of which 30 varieties and hybrids of winter rape and 9 varieties of spring rape. The main scientific institutions engaged in rapeseed breeding are: Institute of Oilseeds NAAS, Institute of Feed and Agriculture Podillya NAAS, Prykarpattia State Agricultural Research Station of the Institute of Agriculture of the Carpathian Region NAAS, National Research Center "Institute of Agriculture NAAS". Also, varieties of rapeseed of Ukrainian selection are offered by domestic structures of various forms of ownership.

For two decades of active development of market relations in Ukraine, the world's leading seed companies Pioneer, Monsanto, Syngenta, Bayer, Lembke and others have opened their own representative offices and are developing production and marketing infrastructure.

The growth of rapeseed production is possible not only as a result of increasing the area under cultivation, but also from the entry into the market of new high-yielding varieties - with improved seed oil quality and adapted to specific growing conditions.

Scientists breed rapeseed in three main areas: the creation of high-oil varieties for food use, technical use and green fodder. A number of criteria for selection are common to all areas: high yield of high-oil and high-protein seeds, early ripening, resistance of pods to cracking, shedding and lodging, to adverse environmental conditions, damage by diseases and pests. Varieties should give a high stable yield over the years, and winter oilseed rape should be characterized by high frost resistance. Creating varieties with optimal edible oil content is a priority in rapeseed breeding. For the safe feeding of animals with waste from the oil industry, rapeseed should not contain glucosinolates, but should have a high protein content (up to 37%). As a result, livestock and poultry received highly profitable feed based on rapeseed meal, which contains more than 1.15 feed units.

Scientists of NSC "Institute of Agriculture of NAAS" have created one high-yielding variety of spring rape and four varieties of winter rape with 00-zero oil quality, resistant to disease and lodging. The basis of the Institute's work is the development and practical use of genetic bases for winter and spring rapeseed breeding.