FEATURES OF SUNFLOWER HYBRIDS GROWTH, DEVELOPMENT AND PRODUCTIVITY IN THE NORTH-WESTERN PART OF THE CENTRAL CHERNOZEM REGION

The purpose of research is to identify and recommend to production the best high-yielding new generation sunflower hybrids suitable for cultivation in the northwestern part of the Central Chernozem Region. Three sunflower hybrids were taken for research: NK Brio, Sumiko and Kubansky 930. It was found that in the northwestern part of the Central Chernozem Region the most promising hybrid is NK Brio, which provided high yield – 3.28 t/ha, an increase compared to hybrid Kubansky 930 1.03 t/ha and Sumiko – 0.53 t/ha. Hybrid NK Brio belongs to the mid-season group with a growing season of 112 days. Hybrids Kubansky 930 and Sumiko belong to the mid-early ripeness group with a growing season of 106 and 101 days, respectively. It was found that the hybrids Kubansky 930, Sumiko and NK Brio, in terms of the length of the growing season, correspond to the requirements of the typical forest-steppe of the northwestern part of the Central Chernozem Region, where the frost-free period is 140–145 days. It was revealed that oil productivity mainly depended on the yield of the hybrid. In the northwestern part of the Central Chernozem Region, the highest oil productivity was when cultivating the hybrid NK Brio – 1506.9 kg/ha. Hybrid Kubansky 930 in this indicator was inferior to NK Brio 412.6 kg/ha and Sumiko – 179.3 kg/ha.