History and experience of cultivation of kok-saghyz dandelion (Taraxacum kok-saghyz Rodin) in Russia

Industrial production of quality rubber products stimulates the demand for natural Indian rubber. In the long term, it will not be possible to satisfy the demand for natural Indian rubber by using only Brazilian hevea. Additional sources of plant latex are required. The most promising in terms of the In dian rubber content in roots and suitability for mass cultivation is the Central Asian plant – kok-saghyz dandelion (Taraxacum kok-saghyz Rodin), which has a long history of introduction into domestic plant breeding in the first half of the twentieth century. Extensive fields of kok-saghyz were created in many regions of the USSR, which provided Indian rubber raw material for the industry. At the same time the work on improvement of the cultivation methods, selection of the most productive forms and technologies of synthesis of artificial Indian rubber was carried out. The experience of field experiment of kok-saghyz dandelion cultivation in Russia from 1932 to 1958 has been summarized. The biological features of the species, methods of cultivation, and seed collection have been described. The results of experimental cultivation of kok-saghyz in the conditions of the forest-steppe of Western Siberia, which began in 2022, are presented. Seeds of two populations of kok-saghyz (Sumskaya K-265 and Chernigovskaya K-430) became the material for the research. As a result of the research, the method of dandelion cultivation by the seedling method in the open ground has been mastered in the condi tions of the Novosibirsk region. The need to obtain seedlings in advance is related to the need to form the maximum number of plants by creating good greenhouse conditions for seeds and seedlings. The morphometric indices of the aboveground mass and root system of different populations of kok-saghyz dandelion have been studied. The first experience showed that there are prospects for successful culti vation of kok-saghyz dandelion in an open ground. Efforts should be directed to study the ecological requirements of the species, developmental biology, to work on the development of high-yielding forms of kok-saghyz and development of the cultivation techniques for obtaining quality plant raw materials.

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