Barley Danuta

The winter barley variety Danuta is a medium-maturing beer barley variety included in the State Register for the Central region of Russia and recommended for cultivation in Bryansk Oblast. The growing period of the variety is 74-90 days; it ripens 2-3 days earlier than the variety Ataman and 1-2 days later than the varieties Vladimir, Raushan, and Elf. The plant has a short or medium height, intermediate plant type, and strong waxy coating on the sheaths of lower leaves. The ear is pyramidal, cylindrical, medium density, with a waxy coating, and the awns are long, serrated, and have medium or strong anthocyanin coloring at the tips. The thousand-grain weight varies from 36 to 46 grams; the grain is medium to large size with a non-hairy hilum. Danuta exhibits resistance to lodging and drought tolerance at the level of standard regional varieties. In field conditions, the variety shows moderate susceptibility to stripe rust and medium infection levels to dark brown rust and helminthosporium, as well as susceptibility to powdery mildew. In the Central region, the average yield of the variety is 29.2 centners per hectare, 2.9 centners per hectare higher than the regional standard; in Bryansk Oblast, the yield increase over Ataman amounted to 2.5 centners per hectare with a yield of 22.8 centners per hectare. The maximum yield was recorded in Tula Oblast, reaching 56.9 centners per hectare. Studies conducted in the central forest-steppe region of Ukraine showed that Danuta exhibits high resistance to powdery mildew due to the presence of recessive mlo genes, ensuring infection levels of not more than 3.5%. The variety also demonstrates resistance to other common barley diseases such as dark brown rust and leaf blotch. Additionally, the variety possesses valuable agronomic traits, including optimal ear length, number of grains per ear, and grain weight, making it promising for breeding and cultivation in regions with similar climatic conditions.