Formation of Elements of Seed Productivity in Cultivars of Red Fescue: Breeding Approach

The aim of the research was to study the initial material of red fescue created on the basis of forms identified in ecotopes of the Cretaceous south of the Central Russian Upland by a set of seed productivity indicators in comparison with zoned varieties. In 2017–2020, 18 cultivars of red fescue were studied—four cultivars of the lawn type Rossinant (standard), Gostjonka, Iskrinka, Vezelka—and 14 breeding samples, which were created using the initial material obtained in various ecological points of the Belgorod oblast. It has been established that the south of the Central Russian Upland with a wide distribution of chalk outcrops, calcareous soils interspersed with meadow ecotopes of river floodplains can be considered a region that is favorable for the selection of starting material for varieties of red lawn fescue with high seed productivity at the level of 71.2–108.6 g/m2. It is shown that the method of cluster analysis makes it possible to efficiently order and group varieties of red fescue according to the characteristics of seed productivity. The formation of individual elements of seed productivity and seed yield significantly depends not only on the conditions of the year but to a large extent (by 17.2–83.5%) is determined by the genetic component of the studied varieties. The most important breeding characteristics in breeding of red lawn fescue for seed productivity in the south of the Central Russian Upland are as follows: the number of productive stems (rs = 0.760), the weight of 1000 seeds (rs = 0.795), and lodging resistance (rs = 0.874).