The influence of soil and climatic conditions on the formation of economically valuable characteristics of soybean varieties [Glycine max (L.) Merril]

Purpose. To carry out the clustering of soybean varie­ties suitable for growing in different agro-climatic regions of Ukraine, according to yield, and to identify the influence of the soil-climatic conditions of the Steppe, Forest-Steppe, and Polissia on their economically valuable characteristics in order to provide recommendations to producers regarding the selection of varieties for farms. Methods. The research involved laboratory, computational and statistical methods. Results. The highest oil content was obtained in 2019 in the Steppe zone in the seeds of such varieties as ‘ES COMPOSITOR’ (25.8%), ‘Churaivna’ (25.7%), ‘Atacama’ (25.7%) and ‘Acardia’ (25.3%); in Polish – ‘ES COMPOSITOR’ (24.7%) and ‘Acardia’ (24.2%). The most “crude protein” was obtained in 2020 in the Forest Steppe, in particular, the variety ‘ES BACHE­LOR’ was characterized by the maximum values – 45.3%. Regardless of the influence of the factors, high yield indicators provided ‘Atacama’ (2.4–3.4 t/ha), ‘Acardia’ (2.5–3.2 t/ha), ‘ES COMPOSITOR’ (2.4–3.5 t/ha) and ‘ES CHANCELLOR’ (2.5– 2.9 t/ha); low – ‘Churaivna’ (2.3–2.7 t/ha), ‘ES BACHELOR’ (2.2–2.7 t/ha). The yield of ‘Adessa’, ‘RGT SPHINXA’ (2.7– 3.0 t/ha each) and ‘SOLENA’ (2.7–3.2 t/ha) depended on the weather conditions of the year. In the Steppe zone, three clusters are distinguished by yield indicators: the first – the varieties ‘Atacama’, ‘ES COMPOSITOR’ and ‘Churaivna’, the se­cond – ‘Adessa’, ‘RGT SPHINXA’ and ‘ES BACHELOR’, the third – ‘Acardia’ and ‘ES CHANCELLOR’; in the Forest Steppe – four: the first – ‘Adessa’, ‘RGT SPHINXA’ and ‘ES CHANCELLOR’, the second – ‘Churaivna’ and ‘ES BACHELOR’, the third – ‘Acardia’ and ‘SOLENA’, the fourth – ‘Atacama’ and ‘ES COMPOSITOR’; in Polissia there are two clusters: the first – ‘RGT SPHINXA’, ‘ES COMPOSITOR’ and ‘ES CHANCELLOR’, the second – ‘Acardia’ and ‘Angelica’. Conclusions. For cultivation in a farm, it is necessary to select varieties that, according to the results of the analysis, were in different clusters. On the other hand, those that are in the same cluster should be avoided, because they react more or less the same to the conditions of cultivation and therefore may react similarly to the action of adverse environmental factors.