Spring barley is the second most important grain crop in the Russian Federation. Versatile use (for brewing, feed and technical purposes), high yield, drought resistance, early maturity, plasticity, less demanding of growing conditions compared to other grain crops — all these positive qualities determine the huge national economic importance of barley [1].
In 2018, according to Rosstat (Federal State Statistics Service), barley was sown on an area of 8,322.3 thousand ha, which is 3.9 % (312.0 thousand ha) more than in 2017. Over five years, crops decreased by 7.7 % (by 696.1 thousand ha), over 10 years — by 13.5 % (by 1,299.4 thousand ha).
The ranking of 10 regions by the size of barley areas was:
1. Orenburg Region The sown area was about 540.0 thousand ha (6.5 % in total). Compared to the previous year, the area increased by 14.4 % (by 67.8 thousand ha).
2. Republic of Bashkortostan (area in 2018 — 419.0 thousand ha, share in total — 5.0 %).
3. Republic of Tatarstan (413.3 thousand ha — 5.0 %).
4. Rostov Region (387.6 thousand ha — 4.7 %).
5. Saratov Region (376.4 thousand ha — 4.5 %).
6. Chelyabinsk Region (357.6 thousand ha — 4.3 %).
7. Voronezh Region (357.6 thousand ha — 4.3 %).
8. Volgograd Region (324.6 thousand ha — 3.9 %).
9. Omsk Region (324.6 thousand ha — 3.9 %).
10. Samara Region (316.2 thousand ha — 3.8 %) [2].
Since each region has its own climatic and soil characteristics, it is necessary to select varieties that have high adaptability to unfavourable abiotic and biotic factors with sufficient potential productivity [3]. It is known that a very important role in increasing the size and quality of the crop belongs to the adaptability of the variety to local conditions.
At the current stage, grain production is inextricably linked with the creation of new varieties that have not only high productivity, but also high quality [4–6]. In this regard, the purpose of this study is to give characteristics of new promising varieties of barley of spring selection of the Omsk Agrarian Research Centre for the conditions of the southern foreststeppe zone of Western Siberia.