Breeding of spring turnip rape, Brassica rapa L. var. subsp.campestris (L.) A.R Clapham at All-Russian Research Institute of Oil Crops

Turnip rape, Brassica rapa L. var. sabsp. Campestris (L.) A.R.Clapham belongs to the large cabbage family (Brassicacea). Spring turnip rape among other oilseeds of the Brassicacea family occupies an important place and can be highly productive in the Northern regions of the European part, in the arid zones of the Lower Volga region, in the northern forest-steppe and subtaiga regions of Western and Eastern Siberia, where the longer growing season sometimes hinders rapeseed to achieve its full potential. Spring turnip rape ripens 13-15 days earlier than rapeseed; it is less heat- and drought-sensitive. However, interest in industrial cultivation of spring turnip rape appeared in the 70s of the last century after the creation of non-erucic and low-glucosinolate varieties, with the oil equivalent to olive oil in its fatty acid composition. Spring turnip rape has been bred at V.S. Pustovoyt All-Russian Research Institute of Oils Crops (VNIIMK) since 1982. The yellow-seeded varieties, Vostochnaya, Yantarnaya, and Zolotistaya, were created. The objective of this research was to find a  new promising breeding material for creating varieties of 000-type spring turnip rape from heterogeneous populations of the available VNIIMK varieties. To obtain a new source material, we used the pedigree method, followed by an assessment of the progeny of elite plants isolated from Yantarnaya and Zolotistaya. The result of our six-year efforts was four new promising samples No. 815, 844, 816, and 820, which exceed the standard variety, Zolotistaya, in seed yield by 10-14%. The oil content of seeds of the isolated samples varied from 47.8 to 48.6%, and exceeded the standard variety by 0.3–0.7% in three of them. Promising cultivars either had the same or lower weight of 1000 seeds (2.4-3.0 g), in comparison with Zolotistaya. All selected samples of turnip rape were characterized by a low glucosinolate content in seeds – 13.5–14.5 μmol g-1, and the fatty acid composition corresponded to the requirements for high-quality salad oils with erucic acid levels of 0.04–0.20% and a high content of oleic acid – 65.8–67.4%. After additional assessment, the best variety will be submitted for the State test.