Global warming and advances in breeding during the 20th and 21st centuries have significantly expanded the range of winter wheat cultivation in Russia. This process continues today, focusing on the northern and northeastern regions of the country. In traditional winter wheat cultivation areas in the southern regions of the Russian Federation, climate change has caused harsher hydrothermal conditions and aridization. With the increasingly frequent summer droughts, early-ripening winter wheat varieties “escaping” unfavorable climatic conditions, have gained an advantage. Academician P. P. Lukyanenko was the first to express the need for breeding early-ripening wheat varieties. This breeding area has become very important and, over 75 years of work, has led to a significant shift in breeding toward the ephemeralization of the wheat plant. Modern early-ripening varieties ripen 10–15 days earlier than the varieties bred in the early and mid-20th century. The article describes new early-ripening soft winter wheat varieties Flash, Dyuna and Zhuchenko 90.

The following soft spring wheat varieties were developed using recombination techniques, ecological methods, and phenotypic and genetic selection: Kurier, Taya, Kulich, Danko, Blesk, Madam, and Most. They are adaptable to a wide range of soil and climatic conditions, are high-yielding, produce “strong” and “valuable” grain, and are resistant to fungal diseases. Plant development type is an adaptive function of wheat to environmental conditions. Winter, spring, and alternate wheat varieties differ from each other in the different lengths of the periods from germination to booting and heading. The duration of these periods is directly related to sensitivity to vernalization and photoperiod and is controlled by the Vrn 1-3 (5) and Ppd 1-3 gene system. Weather conditions in Krasnodar Krai are highly variable. During sowing and grain formation, wheat development is highly variable and unpredictable, which annually alters natural and artificial selection. The research is aimed at developing spring-season varieties with broad adaptation across a geographic gradient. Original soft spring wheat forms with weak photoperiod sensitivity were used to develop early-ripening, productive varieties. The identification of the developed genotypes was determined by phenotypes under uncontrolled natural field conditions in plots of four predecessors. Photosensitivity and the need for vernalization (also under natural conditions) were tested in specially planted nurseries. The obtained field data were then compared with the results of genetic analysis of the lines for the Ppd and Vrn genes using DNA markers. The classification of wheat samples by photosensitivity and need for vernalization was carried out taking into account the phenophase state of the plants, using a nine-point scale that we developed. The spring wheat varieties which we developed have been approved for use in ten regions of the Russian Federation: Northwestern (2), Central (3), Volga-Vyatka (4), Central Black Earth (5), North Caucasus (6), Middle Volga (7), Lower Volga (8), Ural (9), West Siberian (10), and East Siberian (11).

A study of the ecological plasticity and yield stability of 13 spring barley varieties was carried out for the period 2016-2023. S.A. Eberhart and B.A. Rusell's methodology was used for the assessment. Analysis of the calculations revealed that the Sokol variety (b_i = 1,49) demonstrated the most ecological plasticity (linear regression coefficient > 1). The most stable varieties are Bogatyr, Rubikon, and Stimul, with standard deviation coefficients of 10.4, 7.6, and 3.8, respectively. Even if growing conditions deteriorate, the technological properties of these varieties will remain the same with minor changes. According to the results of the analyses, the Magnit variety appeared to be both flexible, the regression line was parallel to the average for the experiment (b_i = 1,09), and stable, its standard deviation was 14.9.

The aim of the study was to characterize ecological plasticity and stability parameters of corn hybrids under the conditions of the Southern and Middle Urals, and to determine the optimal values of these parameters for achieving high productivity of the crop. To obtain the initial data for the analysis 26 Russian-bred corn hybrids were tested during a six-year period (2019-2024) in two geographic locations: the southern forest-steppe zone (Southern Urals) and the forest-meadow zone (Middle Urals). Analysis of environmental indices showed predominantly negative values in the forest-meadow zone due to the lack of heat. In the southern forest-steppe, negative indices were recorded only in the dry years of 2020 and 2021. Based on the combination of ecological plasticity (bi) and stability (S²) parameters, six groups of hybrids were identified: low-plastic, low-stable; low-plastic, high-stable; medium-plastic, low-stable; medium-plastic, high-stable; high-plastic, low-stable; and high-plastic, high-stable. In the forest-meadow zone of the Middle Urals, the highest grain yields were obtained from the hybrids of the first (low-plastic, low-stable), third (medium-plastic, low-stable), and fourth (medium-plastic, high-stable) groups – 4.34, 4.37, and 4.28 t/ha, respectively. This can be explained by their moderate responsiveness to favorable conditions and a similarly moderate decrease in yield under unfavorable ones. The least productive were high-plastic hybrids (fifth and sixth groups), which exhibited a pronounced negative response to deterioration of growing conditions, not always compensated by high productivity under optimal environmental factors. Under the conditions of the Southern Urals, grain productivity of hybrids showed a consistent increase with rising ecological plasticity, while the stability parameter had no significant effect on yield.

Ecological variety testing of 172 varieties of soft winter wheat bred in Krasnodar was carried out in 2023–2025 in the framework of collaboration project of the M. B. Narmaev Kalmyk Research Institute of Agriculture and the FSBSO "National Center of Grain named after
P. P. Lukyanenko". On average, over three years of research, the amount of precipitation was 307.7 mm, the average annual temperature was 12.1 °C, which is 43.3 mm lower and 2.7 °C higher than the long-term average. Experiments on ecological variety testing of soft winter wheat in 2023–2025 were laid out using the SN-16 seeder in four replicates in 2 tiers. Harvesting was carried out in plots by direct combining (Sampo 500). Based on the results of ecological variety testing of soft winter wheat bred in Krasnodar in 2023–2025, the following variety samples were identified as promising for the further collaborative research and submission to State Variety Testing: L.4646k10-6, 183-12ya9, 661-sv30, and 99-747a677-52-4-2.

The article presents the research results on the effect of key agricultural practices, such as crop rotation, tillage methods, and the use of organic, mineral, and organomineral fertilizer systems, on various forms of nitrogen in typical chernozem located in the southwestern part of the Central Chernozem region. Decreasing tillage depth leads to an increase in nitrate nitrogen concentration in the 0-30 cm soil layer in the spring, and at the end of the growing season, this trend is observed only without fertilizer application. The highest content of this form of nitrogen is recorded in grain-grass-row crop rotations, and with an increasing share of row crops in the rotation structure, this value decreases. By harvest time, this change is reflected as a trend, and in the spring, the pattern is clearly evident. Grain-row crop rotation has a positive effect on nitrification capacity. Furthermore, it should be emphasized that the effectiveness of mineral fertilizers decreases with increasing the number of row crops in the rotation.

The article examines the effects of drought stress on the growth, development, and certain morphological characteristics of plum (Prunus domestica L.) varieties. In the course of the study, changes in shoot growth, leaf area, length of the vegetation period, and phenological stages of plum varieties grown under different irrigation regimes were analyzed. The results revealed that drought slow down growth processes in all varieties; however, there are significant differences among varieties in terms of drought tolerance. The study findings provide a scientific basis for selecting promising plum varieties suitable for arid regions.

The article describes the influence of physiological and biochemical traits on wilt resistance in hybrids obtained from crossing medium-sized lines with different genotypic nature of resistance to wilt, early maturity, fiber quality, oil content, protein content and wood density, with testers C-8296, Bukhara-10 and C-8297, which also have different wilt resistance and other morphological and economic traits. This research is relevant because the development of each cotton variety or line reflects its biological characteristics determined by hereditary factors associated with its physiological nature, as well as environmental growing conditions. No significant correlations have been found between wilt resistance and seed oil content in the studied F₂ hybrids, except for the hybrid combination L-2027 × C-8297, where a weak but statistically significant correlation was observed (r = 0.26 ± 0.21). This suggests that seed oil content primarily provides energy during germination and does not directly influence the degree of wilt resistance; the observed relationship appears to be incidental. The weak and moderate significant negative and positive correlations identified among the studied traits depend on the inheritance level of wood protein content, the genotype of wilt resistance in the host plant, the virulence of the natural population of V. dahliae, the specific hybrid combination, and the combining ability of the parental forms. The results indicate that wood density is a genetically determined trait for each variety and species, influencing tissue compactness as well as the progression and spread of the disease pathogen.

Currently, to control the melon fly, causing significant damage to melon crops, is rather important. The article presents methods for predicting melon fly population (density), as well as ways to determine its harmfulness using a mathematical model.

The review covers the development of work on genome editing of soft wheat using the CRISPR/Cas method in Russia and abroad. The article provides the information on the features of constructing the reference genome of the allopolyploid species Triticum aestivum L. based on the Chinese Spring variety. It shows the dynamics of the studies on sequencing the soft wheat genome, which has made it possible to increase the number of isolated and verified genes with known function by more than 2 times in 6 years, starting from the development of the first reference genome of soft wheat, i.e. since 2018. This served as a new starting point for the work on editing genes that determine agricultural traits. The review pays special attention to the CRISPR/Cas methods of gene editing. It is shown that the main research on genome editing of soft wheat is currently focused on the following areas:
1. The quality and nutritional value of grain.
2. Resistance to abiotic stress.
3. Morphogenesis of plants.
4. Sterility, haploid induction.
5. Resistance to biotic stress.
In Russia, methods of CRISPR/Cas9 genes editing of soft wheat are used to obtain plants with a more accelerated earing /maturation period; to obtain short-stemmed lines with increased yields; to obtain more drought-resistant lines by increasing the amount of cuticle wax; to obtain plants whose pollen sterility / fertility depends on temperature and duration of illumination. It should be noted that work in Russia is carried out mainly on commercial varieties or plant breeding lines, which reflects the practical focus of the research. In this regard, the importance of adopting legislative frameworks for the progressive development of work on genome editing and for the use of newly modified plants in breeding is discussed.

20 introgressed lines of soft wheat (Triticum aestivum L) have been studied on resistance to stem rust. The lines were derived from a genomically enhanced synthetic form of Triticum miguschovae (GGAADD), which transferred disease resistance from Aegilops tauschii and Triticum timopheevi to soft wheat. Based on field assessment, lines T1, T3, T5, T6, T8, and T14 resistant to stem rust were selected and can be used as new donors of disease resistance. DNA markers linked to known stem rust resistance genes Sr33, Sr45, SrTA10187, SrTA10171, and Sr36, inherited from T. miguschovae, as well as genes Sr31 and Sr57, inherited from recipient varieties Kavkaz and Bezostaya 1, respectively, were identified in the lines. Presumably, the selected introgressive lines, obtained using T. miguschovae, may carry new genes or loci for stem rust resistance.