Abstract:

To address the issues of severe diseases and narrow varietal diversity in tobacco-growing areas of Southeast China, a new flue-cured tobacco variety with high quality, multiple disease resistance, easy curing and high yield was bred to meet production demands. ‘Xiangyan 8’ was developed via systematic pedigree selection from the cross between ‘Xiangyan 4’ (female parent) and ‘K326’ (male parent), and was approved by the National Tobacco Variety Examination Committee in 2023. This variety exhibits stable heredity, strong field growth vigor and easy curing. It is resistant to black shank and moderately resistant to bacterial wilt, with comprehensive resistance superior to that of ‘K326’. Its main economic traits are significantly better than those of ‘K326’ and comparable to those of ‘Yunyan 87’. Compared with ‘K326’, the yield, output value, average price and high-grade leaf proportion of ‘Xiangyan 8’ were increased by 8.64%, 13.68%, 5.35% and 13.48% respectively. The cured leaves are mostly orange-yellow, rich in oil and loosely structured. The internal chemical components are harmonious. Sensory evaluation shows that its aroma quality is medium to high, and its overall sensory quality is superior to that of ‘K326’ and ‘Yunyan 87’. As an elite new variety balancing quality, disease resistance and yield, ‘Xiangyan 8’ is suitable for popularization and cultivation in tobacco-growing areas of Hunan Province and Southeast China.

Key words: flue-cured tobacco, new varieties, ‘Xiangyan 8’, breeding, high quality, multi-resistance, output value, quality