Abstract: In view of the ecological conditions in Hubei tobacco growing areas, new flue-cured tobacco varieties with strong adaptability and similar quality to major cv. K326 and Yunyan 87 were bred. A new flue-cured tobacco hybrid variety Ekao 030 was bred with K326 （quality flue-cured female variety） and Longjiang 911 （with resistance to brown spot, black shank, root knot nematode and PVY） as parents, respectively. It was identified and evaluated in Hubei tobacco variety test and national tobacco variety test. The experimental results showed that Ekao 030 possessed good adaptability, resistance to black shank and root knot nematode. The average yield, output value, average price and superior tobacco rate of this new variety were 2 222.10 kg/hm², 48 782.55 yuan/hm², 21.86 yuan/kg and 40.04% respectively. Among them, the yield and output value of this variety increased by 7.10% and 11.94% respectively compared with the main control variety K326, and 8.29% and 8.07% higher than that of Yunyan 87; the average price and the rate of superior tobacco were similar to those of Yunyan 87, but increased by 2.92% and 5.47% compared with K326. The flue-cured leaves of Ekao 030 were rich in oil and moderate in body, and displayed well-distributed golden color. The comprehensive physical characteristics of this new variety were better than K326 and Yunyan 87. Its contents of main chemical components were harmonious, the quality of tobacco sensory evaluation was moderate, and the overall quality of smoking was better than that of control variety K326 and Yunyan 87. In conclusion, Ekao 030 is a new variety with potentials for high quality, remarkable economic performance, strong resistance to diseases and wide adaptability.

Key words: flue-cured tobacco, variety, Ekao 030, breeding, evaluation