Simple interline hybrid of winter rapeseed Merlo bred at V.S. Pustovoit All-Russian Research Institute of Oil Crops

The simple interline hybrid of winter rapeseed Merlot (VN-2126) was developed by crossing the maternal form VN-9 and the paternal form ORK-10 using the Ogura CMS system. Merlo is a mid-early hybrid characterized by uniformity of plants, flowering, and maturation, and is easy to harvest. In competitive trials from 2022 to 2023, Merlo surpassed the stand-ard hybrid Debut in seed yield by 0.39 t/ha and in oil yield by 0.12 t/ha. According to similar indicators, the new hybrid exceeded the standard variety Loris by 1.41 and 0.58 t/ha, respectively, as well as one of the foreign hybrids, Factor, by 0.28 and 0.09 t/ha. The average thousand-seed weight of the new hybrid over two years was 4.4 g; the hybrid Debut was 4.9 g, and the hybrid Factor was 4.4 g. The new hybrid is characterized by its resistance to seed shattering. The pa-rental components of the hybrid Merlo are well-matched in terms of flowering time. The maternal line VN-9 (No. 1981) has a yield and oil content similar to the standard variety and a low glucosinolate content in seeds (13.7 μmol/g). The paternal line ORK-10 is less productive than the maternal line but is resistant to seed shattering.