Agricultural crops are increasingly exposed to unstable and frequently adverse environmental conditions, which makes adaptive capacity a central requirement for modern breeding. Ongoing climate change has intensified this challenge by altering precipitation patterns, increasing air temperatures, raising the frequency of extreme weather events, and modifying the epidemiological background of pests and diseases. Under such circumstances, the creation of plant material capable of maintaining useful agronomic performance under stress has become one of the major priorities of crop improvement programs.

The present study was undertaken to characterize the patterns of induced hereditary variability in winter wheat and to determine how genotype × mutagen interaction influences the frequency and diversity of useful mutations. Particular attention was given to the occurrence of favorable changes that may be of value for breeding practice.