Yields, stress tolerance, and genetic flexibility of soybean varieties in the Altai Region

Abstract

Soybeans are considered among of the most widespread and highly-demanded legumes and oil-bearing crops in modern global agriculture. The demand for soybean products and their popularity is due to the possibility of multi-purpose use in many sectors of the national economy. Currently, soybeans are grown in many countries worldwide. The use of high-yielding varieties adapted to the growing conditions contributes to increased soybean production in Russia. In the recent 3-4 years, these were primarily domestic varieties. The Russian Government has supported scientists and producers in this area. Domestic soybean varieties surpass foreign ones in many respects and are successfully used in the production process in all regions of the country engaged in soybean growing. The research goal was to evaluate the domestic soybean varieties in terms of yields in the Altai Region and identify the most stable varieties with high stress tolerance. The research was carried out on the farm of the OOO Geya from 2023 through 2025. The following nine soybean varieties were used as research material: Cheremshanka, Zolotistaya, Sibiriada 20, Milyausha, Sibiriada, Alfa, Pripyat, SK Doka, and Alaska. Three-year average yields varied from 3.45 ± 0.32 t ha (Alfa variety) to 4.23 ± 0.16 t ha (Cheremshanka variety). The least significant difference (LSD₀₅) being 0.24, the varieties Cheremshanka (4.23 ± 0.16 t ha) and SK Doka (4.22 ± 0.47 t ha) showed significant excess of yield compared to all varieties in the experiment. On three-year average, the highest stability in yield formation was shown by the variety Zolotistaya (Cv = 3.6%). The varieties Sibiriada 20 (Cv = 11.4%), SK Doka (Cv = 13.3%), and Alaska (Cv = 15.0%) were insufficiently stable. High stress tolerance was shown by the variety Zolotistaya (stress tolerance value of -0.1) and the variety Cheremshanka (-0.3). Our observations and calculations indicate that the varieties with a value of 4.0-4.3 are characterized by high genetic flexibility: Cheremshanka, Zolotistaya, Sibiriada 20, Milyausha, Pripyat, and SK Doka.