Background. The efficiency of breeding depends largely on the breeding method and the choice of the source material. Hybridization and mutagenesis, combined with selection, are the basic techniques in the development of promising breeding materials and adaptable cultivars of spring barley.Object and methods. The research was implemented in 2002–2019. The material for the research were 948 breeding lines (Federal Agricultural Science Center of the North-East, Kirov) developed through hybridization with cv. ‘Bios 1’, and 190 mutant samples (Vyatka State Agricultural Academy, Kirov) obtained as a result of treating barley seeds with sodium carbonate and irradiation with laser and far-red light in various combinations. The study was conducted in accordance with approved standard techniques.Results and conclusions. Various collection accessions and breeding lines were involved in crosses with cv. ‘Bios 1’. The lines were studied according to the full-scale scheme of the breeding process. As a result, only one breeding line, 52-15, having ‘Bios 1’ in its pedigree, was approved for testing in the competitive variety trial in 2019. These results attested to a low combination capacity of cv. ‘Bios 1’ and to the inefficiency of its further use in hybridization as a parent form. In Vyatka State Agricultural Academy, 190 mutant forms of barley were produced using ‘Bios 1’ as the initial form. According to the results of laboratory experiments and competitive variety trials, 5 mutant forms of barley were identified as promising. Spring barley samples, combining high yield with a set of traits valuable for breeding, were selected for further breeding work: breeding line 52-15, and mutant forms M 4-16-3, M 9-5-3 and M 11- 13 Kha. The new barley accession M 8-3-013, maturing 8 days earlier than the original cultivar, having a long (8.9 cm), wellgrained (24.3 grains) and productive (1.31 g) ear, is submitted for the State Variety Trials.
