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Winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is the main food crop on a global scale, in the growth and stabilisation of yields, of which varietal resources are a significant factor. In practical breeding work, an essential role is played by a variety of thoroughly investigated source material. The purpose of this study was to determine hypothetical and true heterosis and establish the nature of inheritance of the number of grains from the main ear in hybrids of soft winter wheat. In 2018-2020, 45 combinations of cross-breeding of soft winter wheat varieties obtained from hybridisation of different growing season periods were investigated in the experimental field of the Research and Production Centre of the Belotserkovskyi National Agrarian University. Generally accepted methods were used to determine the hypothetical and true heterosis and the degree of phenotypic dominance by the number of grains in the main ear. Studies indicate that the number of grains in the ear of the main stem of the parent components of hybridisation is determined by genotype and considerably depends on the hydrothermal conditions of the year. The author of this paper established the influence of maternal cytoplasm on the manifestation of the trait under study. Thus, when used in hybridisation of early-maturing varieties with the mother form, the largest average number of grains in the main ear for hybrids (63.3 pcs.) was formed in 2019. At the same time, for the use of medium-early, medium maturing, and medium-late varieties in hybridisation, the maximum number of grains (64.8 pcs.) was marked in 2018. Therewith, all hybrids formed the minimum number of grains in 2020. The obtained experimental data indicate the influence of parental genotypes and year conditions on heterosis indicators and the degree of phenotypic dominance in first-generation hybrids. It is determined that the most common type of inheritance (85.6%) of the number of grains from the main ear is positive overdomination. Practical value for the selection of soft winter wheat are the selected cross-breeding combinations: Myronivska early / Zolotokolosa, Myronivska early / Cherniava, Bilotserkivska semi-dwarf / Cherniava, Bilotserkivska semi-dwarf / Antonivka, Kolchuha / Antonivka, Zolotokolosa / Charniava, Zolotokolosa / Yednist, Cherniava / Vidrada, Cherniava / Stolychna, Shchedra Nyva / Dobirna, Antonivka / Stolychna, Dobirna / Pyvna, which significantly exceeded the average number of grains from the main ear for F1 in the changing fields under hydrothermal conditions the years of research

This paper explores some Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs – 2 and 12) in agriculture for the Czech Republic and Ukraine. The idea is to find out best practices in implementing SDGs 2 and 12 within the responsible investment framework. For these purposes, benchmarking (comparative analysis) is used. Using data over the period of 2017–2020, a general comparative review of global and national targets of SDGs 2 and 12 in Ukraine and the Czech Republic is provided. The results justify the merely incorporation and compliance of these targets at the national and global levels. The identified problems in achieving SDG 2 and SDG 12 are common for Ukraine and the Czech Republic and relate to unequal access to investment and financial resources. Recommendations and solutions to the most important problems based on the responsible investment instruments are proposed in this paper. The research findings can be useful for regulators (both in agriculture and in the financial market), companies and a wide group of other stakeholders in promoting responsible investment to make more comprehensive progress towards SDG 2 and 12 in Czech Republic and Ukraine by 2030. AcknowledgmentAuthors are grateful to the Czech government for the support provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, which allowed this scientific cooperation to start within the project “AgriSciences Platform for Scientific Enhancement of HEIs in Ukraine”.

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The paper focuses on the insect community as a "link" between ecosystem producers, secondary consumers and decomposers and the mobile and informative indicator of structure, biological stability and productivity. Consortium and other subsystems of agricultural ecosystems are mainly destroyed annually as a result of technological measures - chemical, mechanical, biological. External ecological factors, including the structure of the agrolandscape, in particular field protective forest shelter belts and ecotones between them, also have a certain influence. The research was conducted in organic agrolandscape (Kyiv region, Ukraine), comparing it with the conventional one. Insects were collected in winter wheat fields, ecotones and adjacent forest shelterbelts. The number of orders, families and individuals is greater under organic farming. The highest number of families and individuals was recorded in the forest shelterbelts adjacent to the organic landscape (26.3 and 111.7, respectively). The number of individuals in organic winter wheat fields was twice as large as in conventional fields and amounted to 85.3 individuals on average; the number of families was by 1.8 times larger. Biodiversity indices (Shannon, Menhinick, Margalef, Berger-Parker, and Pielou) confirm the greater diversity of insects in the organic fields of winter wheat. The Sørensen similarity coefficient was higher in the organic fields and forest shelterbelts near the conventional fields (Cs=0.7), which is explained by the largest number of phytophages in these ecosystems. The share of predators and parasites that control pests in the agricultural system was highest in organic ecotones and forest shelterbelts - 26.21% and 33.12% (against 10.24 and 18.16% in conventional, respectively).