8th INTERNATIONAL WHEAT CONFERENCE

ReSuLTS of eVALuATIoN of SPRINg WheAT geRmPLASm
ThRough kAzAkhSTAN-SIBeRIA NeTWoRk
Y. Zelenskiy 1 , A. Morgounov 2 , Y. Manes 3 , D. Singh 4 ,
M. Karabayev 1 , A. Baytassov 1 , K. Abdullayev 5 ,
A. Abugalieva 5 , I. Belan 5 , L. Bekenova 5 , V. Chudinov 5 ,
V. Ganeyev 5 , M. Koyshibayev 5 , N. Korobeynikov 5 ,
L. Maltseva 5 , V. Tsigankov 5 , V. Tyunin 5 , S. Rsaliev 5 ,
V. Shamanin 5 , G. Sereda 5 , K. Stepanov 5 , V. Zykin 5
1 CIMMYT, PO 1443, 010000, Astana, Kazakhstan,
2 CIMMYT, PO Box 39, Emek 06511, Ankara, Turkey,
3 CIMMYT, Apdo. Postal 6-641, C.P. 06600, Mexico D.F. Mexico,
4 CIMMYT, Nairobi, Kenya,
5 Kazakh-Siberian Network on Spring Wheat Improvement (KASIB), c/o CIMMYT
E-mail Address of presenting author: y.zelenskiy@cgiar.org
The region of Northern Kazakhstan and Western Siberia lies between 50-56 N and 60-95
E and represents relatively uniform region growing close to 20 millions ha of spring wheat.
The major abiotic stress affecting wheat production in the region is lack of moisture.
Precipitation varies between 300-450 mm per year and 80-250 mm per vegetation season.
The region has fertile soils with humus content of 3-6%. The drought conditions, fertile
soils and the grown genotypes provide with high protein (13-18%) and gluten (25-34%)
content. The gluten is characterized by good strength and elasticity, allowing it to be used
as a component in flour mixtures with grain of medium or poor quality.
The wheat varieties grown in Kazakhstan and Siberia are primarily developed by the
public research and breeding institutions. Since CIMMYT established its program in the
region a new cooperative activities – the Kazakhstan-Siberia Network on Spring Wheat
Improvement (KASIB) - were initiated. KASIB was established in 2000 and unites 15
breeding and research programs of the region. The objectives of KASIB are germplasm
exchange and generation of agronomic and disease data for newly developed varieties
and advanced lines of spring wheat. Each program submits 2-3 new varieties or advance
lines to the trial which is conducted for two years in a row. The nursery is tested as replicated
yield trial across all participating locations. After two years new varieties (lines)
are submitted for testing. For 10 years of the KASIB research 368 entries of spring bread
wheat and 115 entries of durum wheat have been assessed. To monitor the breeding
progress KASIB check varieties consist of region-wide cultivated varieties Pamyati Aziyeva,
Tertsiya, Omskaya 35, Astana 2 as well as landmark variety Saratovskaya 29 which
was widely spread and occupied millions hectares in 60-90s of the last century. Average
yield across KASIB nursery locations varied from 2.15 to 3.0 t/ha. The highest yielding
genotypes were Pamyaty Azieva, Omskaya 35, Tertsiya, Altayskaya 100, Lutescens
706, Akmola 2, Lyubava, Chelyaba yubileynaya, Eritrospermum 78 etc. These varieties
200