Variability of agronomic traits of the ‘Lipchanka’ spring turnip rape cultivar in the conditions of the North-West of Russia

Turnip rape (Brassica rapa L. subsp. oleifera (DC.) Metzg.) is an important oilseed crop in the temperate climate zone. The article provides the results of a long-term study (2019–2024) on the variability of morpho-biological and agronomic traits of the ‘Lipchanka’ spring turnip rape cultivar bred by the Lipetsk Research Institute of Rapeseed, under the conditions of Saint Petersburg (North-Western region of Russia). The duration of the vegetative period (67–97 days), seed yield (60–96 g/m²), and plant height (77.2–109.6 cm) mostly depended on the growing conditions (CV = 128 %). Low interannual variability (CV < 10 %) was observed for the «seedlings–flowering» period (30–36 days), productivity of one plant (1.2–3.3 g), number of the first-order branches (4.0–7.3 pcs.), average number of seeds per pod (14.8–22.4 pcs.), and weight of 1000 seeds (2.8–3.1 g). The highest genetic stability of the cultivar was recorded for the «weight of 1000 seeds» trait. The ‘Lipchanka’ cultivar is used as a standard cultivar in the study and comparative evaluation of new spring turnip rape cultivars introduced into the collection of the N. I. Vavilov All-Russian Institute of Plant Genetic Resources (VIR). The herbarium specimen of the ‘Lipchanka’ cultivar designated as the nomenclatural standard is registered in the VIR Herbarium database and has been transferred for storage to the National Center for Plant Genetic Resources.