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Current climate change represents a serious threats to sustainable development by its accelerated its pace of manifestations and inability to adequately adapt to these changes. Increasing intensity and frequency of climate change’ related risk have conditioned the need to conduct a parallel study on the specifics of regional climate change and weather-climate risks’ manifestation. The results indicate that the financial damage caused by some climatic related risks in recent years can substantially destabilize the country’s economy.

America is the center of origin of the annual sunflower Helianthus annuus L . However, as an oil crop, sunflower was first cultivated in Russia. The seeds of first sunflower varieties contained 28–30 % oil. The varieties with high oil content (47–51 % oil in the seed), VNIIMK 6540 (k-1872), VNIIMK 8883 (k-1961), VNIIMK 8931 (k-1942), Armavirskii 1813 (k-1588), Armavirskii 3497 (k-1960), Armavirets (k-2116), and Peredovik (k-2051), were created based on the research work carried out by V.S. Pustovoyt, his associates, and followers. These and other domestic varieties have become basic for the lines created with the purpose of heterotic hybrid production on the basis of cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) all over the world. The genealogy of lines is not always clear. At the same time, the material used by breeding institutions and companies is characterized by increasingly low genetic diversity. The knowledge on the genealogy of lines promotes fuller employment of the genetic potential of cultivated sunflower. The article reports the data on the lines created by the researchers of the N.I. Vavilov All-Russian Institute of Plant Genetic Resources (VIR) at the Kuban Experiment Station in the period from 1970 to 2015, as well as the data obtained by foreign researchers, which we are familiar with, on the lines obtained using Russian varieties. The lines were created by repeated self-pollination and progeny selection for morphological features, CMS, the ability to restore pollen fertility, the length of vegetation period, and resistance to downy mildew after each self-pollination event. As a rule, uniform lines were obtained 7–8 generations after self-pollination. The data on the genealogy of 38 lines created by the VIR researchers, 2 VNIIMK lines, and 16 foreign lines, as well as the information on the origin of the PET1 CMS source are presented.

The taxonomic structure of microscopic fungi complex in root zone of sunflower under its growing in conditions of southern Steppe of Ukraine comparing with natural biocenosis and black vapor has been studied. Soil of background (natural biocenosis, rhizosphere), black vapor (arable layer 0–20 cm) and root zone (rhizosphere) of a sunflower hybrid Zaporozhsky-32 was investigated. Soil samples of sunflower rhizosphere were selected at the stages of 2–4 true leaves (May), flowering (June), head formation (August) and full maturity (October) during 2009–2011. Samples of background soil and black vapor soil were taken in the same terms as the crop. Almost throughout the entire vegetation period, the number of micromycetes in the root zone of sunflower did not differ from the natural biocenosis and black vapor, and only by the end of the vegetation it nearly doubled. Despite almost the same total number of identified genera, there are significant differences in genus composition of micromycetes isolated from background soil and root zone of sunflower. Micromycetes of the genera Botrytis, Cladosporium, Metarrhizium and Rhizopus were typical only for sunflower rhizosphere while micromycetes of the genera Doratomyces and Acremonium were exclusively found in natural biocenosis. In addition, in soil under sunflower the range of the species in Penicillium genus expanded, while the species variety in Aspergillus genus significantly reduced compared to background soil and black vapor. During the growing season, in natural biocenosis genus diversity practically did not change, whereas in root zone of sunflower some fluctuations in number of genera were observed. Based on the Sorensen index, it was found that the micromycete complexes of the background soil and the black vapor were the most similar, where 23 species of fungi were common, while in rhizosphere of sunflower very specific mycocenosis was formed.

The seed morphology of 38 samples representing O. cumana populations from Republic of Moldova were examined to explore patterns of variation among the accessions. Features of seeds were assessed employing light microscopy and analyzed statistically. The morphological differences in length/width ratio and seed shape in local broomrape populations have been established. The size of seeds ranged from 0.36 ~ 0.42 mm in length, and 0.14~0.18 mm in width. Seeds were generally small, ovoid to elongated in shape. Using one-way test (ANOVA), cluster and principal coordinate analysis, two groups were established by seed characteristics.

For determination of best general and specific combiners for achene yield and related components, a study on a 7×7 diallel fashion in sunflower was conducted at experimental field of Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan. The data were recorded on quantitative traits; days to maturity, plant height, stem diameter, head diameter, number of leaves, Achene per head, achene yield per plant, 100-achene weight, filled achene percentage and oil contents and subjected to Analysis of variance and combining abilities. The accessions were significant for studied traits except oil contents. The accessions A-544, A-554 and A-552 showed significant general combining ability effects days to maturity, plant height, stem diameter, head diameter, number of leaves and filled achene, achene per head and achene yield per plant. The best cross combination A-546×A-560 showed significant specific combining ability effects for number of leaves and filled achene percentage. Among reciprocal crosses, the cross A-560×A-534 proved best for plant height and stem diameter while A-548×A-546 for number of leaves and achene per head.

Two mutant inbred lines of sunflower, F 1 and F 2 hybrids derived after reciprocal crossings between those mutant lines, were used to study seed shape inheritance pattern. Seed shape was evaluated as a length to width (L/W) ratio. One of the mutant lines had rounded shape of the seeds which length to width ratio was close to 1.0. Another line differed with elongated seeds with L/W ratio equal to 1.6–1.7. The length to width ratio of 1.4–1.5 in F 1 hybrids was intermediate as compared to its parents, hybrid seeds being still elongated and differing sharply from the rounded seeds. F 2 populations showed two phenotypic classes in the shape of seeds with elongated seeds (L/W ratio>1.3) exceeding greatly rounded seeds (L/W ratio<1.3) in number. The used chi-square test indicated that the observed segregation corresponded to the theoretically expected both 15: 1 and 63: 1 ratios. The revealed segregations may indicate the control of the seed shape by two or even three unidirectionally acting genes. This implies that rounded seed shape is a double or triple recessive homozygote.

A stability analysis was carried out using nine single crosses and fifteen diverse three-way crosses for nine traits across three locations viz ., Dharwad, Annigeri and Raichur during Kharif 2006. The analysis of variance for stability revealed significant differences among the hybrids for all the characters except head diameter and 100 seed weight. The additive environmental variance found to be of considerable magnitude as indicated by the significance of variance due to environment (linear) for all the characters thus implying that no simple relationship existed between genotypes and the environment. The single cross hybrids CMS 17 A x RHA-95-C-1 and DCMS 51 A x RHA-6D-1 excelled in their mean performance for seed yield however, two three-way hybrids CMS 234 A x DSI-2 x RHA-6D-1 and DCMS 51 A x DSI-1017 x RHA-6D-1 regarded as the best for high seed yield besides well adaptability. Diversification of leading single cross hybrids such as RSFH-1, KBSH-44, KBSH-1 and DCMS 51 A with inbreds DSI-2 and DSI-1017 and consequent their three way crosses excelled in performance for a majority of the traits such as head diameter, number of filled seeds per head, 100 seed weight and seed yield per plant.

The main purpose of this study was to define the perspective of cultivating sunflower hybrids in the northeast of Kazakhstan. The trial included 10 hybrids that originated from the Institute of Field and Vegetable Crops, Novi Sad, Serbia (NS-sunflower hybrids). The study was conducted in the field and laboratory. Testing was carried out by PGTH technique (a preliminary testing of hybrids) ARRIOBC (All-Russian Research Institute of Oil-Bearing Crops) in quadruple frequency and as a production testing on big squares in single frequency. Phenological assessment, plant measurements, definition of oil content, 1000-seed weight and its nature were carried out by the standard methods. The experiments established the length of the vegetative period, growth indicators, yield, oil content and oil yield per hectare, 1000-seed weight and nature of the studied hybrids in three agro-climatic zones in the northeast of Kazakhstan. Two perspective locations for hybrid cultivation were allocated in Pavlodar and east Kazakhstan regions. Further research on developing seed farming technology of the perspective hybrids in Pavlodar region of Kazakhstanis planned.