EkoNiva Group’s first soft spring wheat EN Sirius has been added to the portfolio of in-house bred varieties and entered into the State Register of Plant Breeding Achievements Approved for Use. The latter was made possible due to the company’s participation in the Federal Scientific and Technical Programme for the Development of Agriculture aimed at strengthening Russia’s food security and introducing advanced domestic solutions.

The mid-ripening spring wheat variety EN Sirius is adapted to the West Siberian region. Its growing period averages 84 days, and the plant height ranges from 65 to 75 cm. The quality parameters are especially worth noting: the mean protein content reaches 14%, and that of gluten – 33%. This makes the grain of EN Sirius a valuable raw material for the baking industry.

Over the past three years, the variety has been tested in the Group’s Siberian subdivision (Maslyanino village, Novosibirsk oblast) and has demonstrated impressive results, surpassing the performance of the standard variety. In 2023, the yielding capacity of EN Sirius amounted to 6.18 t/ha, while the standard variety produced 4.5 t/ha under similar growing conditions. In 2024, the average output of EN Sirius was 6.35 t/ha against 5.74 t/ha, and in 2025 – 5.76 t/ha against 4.81 t/ha.

High resistance to a number of common diseases gives the variety a decided edge over its counterparts. EN Sirius withstands brown rust, Septoria leaf spot and Fusarium head blight well, and it also shows great tolerance to yellow rust and powdery mildew. This will reduce the cost of crop protection agents and ensure a bumper harvest even in unfavourable years. In addition, the variety is resistant to drought (4 points) and lodging (5 points on a one to five scale), which is particularly important in a changeable climate.

The company’s own testing data for recent years confirms the high potential of EN Sirius even beyond the West Siberian region. For example, the average yield during the trial period (2021-2025) in EkoNiva’s Kursk subdivision was 8.02-9.34 t/ha. Such impressive figures open up prospects for cultivating the variety in different climatic zones of the country and make it a universal solution for many Russian regions.

‘We are proud that EN Sirius spring wheat has received state recognition. The variety represents the result of many years of research and focused work. We strived to create wheat that would not only be high-yielding and premium-quality, but also adapted to challenging growing conditions to the maximum. Thus, farmers would be less dependent on external factors and costly crop protection products’, comments the company's plant breeder Darya Litvinova.

The entry of the variety in the State Register was facilitated by the fact that EkoNiva joined the Federal Scientific and Technical Programme for the Development of Agriculture in 2025. Its key objective is fulfilling import substitution and increasing the efficiency of farming through the creation and implementation of domestic innovative technologies.

‘Plant breeding activities are the cornerstone of the country’s food security. By developing new, highly effective varieties, we are investing in the future of Russian agriculture, providing farmers with tools for consistent and profitable production. The company will further carry out extensive and arduous work as part of the Federal Scientific and Technical Programme, including the cooperation with our partners, research and educational plant breeding organisations – Omsk State Agricultural University and the Federal Research Centre Nemchinovka’, says Vitaliy Voloshchenko, Director of Plant Breeding and Variety Maintenance Centre, EkoNiva Group.

The new spring wheat variety is to become a valuable asset for Russian farmers seeking to boost yields, product quality and economic sustainability of their enterprises.