No 3 (2023)

The climatic conditions of the Middle Urals determine the zoned assortment of almost all horticultural crops. Even blackcurrant, which is distinguished by its unpretentiousness and plasticity to growing conditions, is subject to environmental stressors that determine the Ural climate. Therefore, the creation of new adaptive cultivars of the main berry crops is one of the priority tasks of breeding work. Over the past five years, at the Sverdlovsk Horticultural Breeding Station, a fund of sources of breeding traits has been created for currants, raspberries and strawberries, the use of which makes it possible to obtain hybrid offspring at a qualitatively higher level. This fund includes the original forms both for the complex and for individual economically valuable traits. A complex of basic traits is possessed by 2 forms of black currant (Dobryy Dzhinn, Krasa L'vova), 1 raspberry cultivar Antares and 5 forms of strawberries (Duet, Geyser, Solovushka, Forsazh, 3-13-05). For the period 2018-2022 hybridization was carried out in the amount of 179 combinations of crosses, 3439 seedlings were obtained. 2877 seedlings from previous hybridizations were studied during the same period. According to the results of the study of hybrid offspring, 115 selected seedlings were chosen, 15 of them were transferred to the elite category. 8 new cultivars have been included in the State Register of Breeding Achievements Approved for Use in the Volga-Vyatka region, they are: 4 black currants (Vympel, Udalets, Shaman, Pilot), 2 raspberries (Alaya Rossyp', Fregat) and 2 strawberries (Akvarel', Forsazh).

The research works were carried out in the central agricultural climatic zone of Kirov region, according to the methodology of the State Variety Testing Commission. The purpose of the research was to create new competitive black currant cultivars. Morphological, biological and economical characteristics of black currant cultivars are given. The origin of the Sapfir cultivar is: 1-18-85 (Stahanovka Altaya × (Bredtorp × Yankis Yarvy) × 1295-16-82 (762-5-82 × Minay Shmiryov). The cultivar has a middle late term of maturation. The bush is of medium growth and of medium spreading. The berries in a bunch are settled thick. An average weight of one berry is 1.5 g. The berries are of a flat-circular shape, shining, black with a peel of medium thickness and nice sour-sweet taste. The concentration of vitamin C is 96.8 mg/100 g and the concentration of sugar is 8.22%. The average productivity is 6.9 t/ha. The cultivar is prominent for a high degree of sustainability to powdery mildew. The main purpose of the berries is universal. The cultivar requires fertile soil. The origin of the Shagane cultivar is from (Benefis × Yankis Yarvy) × 1328-17-38 (the ancestor of wax currant × Lentiay). The cultivar is of a medium term of maturation. The bush is of medium growth and slightly spreading. An average weight of one berry is 1.2 g. The berries are of flat circular shape with a peel of medium thickness and nice sour-sweet taste. The concentration of vitamin C is 119.39 mg/100 g and the concentration of sugar is 9.48%. The average productivity is 7.8 t/ha. The cultivar is prominent for a high degree of sustainability to bud mite and powdery mildew. The main purpose of berries is universal. The origin of the Ariel cultivar is from Mortti × Chudnoye Mgnovenie. The cultivar has a middle term of maturation. The bush is of medium growth and slightly spreading. The berries are black of circular shape with a peeling of medium thickness. An average weight of a berry is 1.7 g. The berry has nice sour-sweet taste. The concentration of vitamin C is 140.36 mg/100 g and of sugar is 6.81%. The average productivity is 7.7 t/ha. The cultivar is prominent for sustainability to bud mite and powdery mildew. The cultivar has universal purpose. The cultivar requires fertile soil. Shagane was included in the State Register of Selection Achievements Admitted for Use in 2021 and Ariel was included in the State Register in 2023.

Blue honeysuckle (Lonicera caerulea L., Caprifoliaceae) is a promising berry crop, actively conquering world markets. The study of wide assortment of blue honeysuckle cultivars in the climatic conditions of the Middle Urals will allow recommending perspective cultivars for commercial and amateur gardening. The results of study of productivity of 28 cultivars of blue honeysuckle in the first five years of yielding in the conditions of the Middle Urals are given in the article. The research was carried out in accordance with “Program and methods of variety investigation of fruit, berry and nut crops”. During five year fruiting, medium productivity (1.1—2.0 kg/bush) was observed in 13 cultivars. It was revealed, that average yield (1.19—2.01 kg/bush) of 11 cultivars (Volhova, Zvyozdochka, Ivushka, Leningradskiy Velikan, Masha, Morena, Pavlovskaya, Silginka, Sinichka, Slavyanka, Yugana) was on the level of the control cultivar Lazurit (1.68 kg/bush). The yield of the rest of 17 cultivars was significantly lower than in the control. With the beginning of entry in industrial fruiting, the average yield of the crop increased by 114%. During three years of industrial fruiting, high yield was received from 7 cultivars (25%): Volhova, Zvyozdochka, Lazurit, Morena, Silginka, Sinichka, Yugana and medium yield was received from 16 cultivars (57%). In the conditions of the Middle Urals, on average for the crop, a strong positive correlation between the average fruit weight of blue honeysuckle and the quantity of precipitations in the first decade of June (coefficient of correlation was 0.92) and a negative link between the air temperature in the third decade of May and the average fruit weight (r = -0.94) of the crop were found at the 5% level of significance. During five year study, the fruits of the cultivars Bakcharskiy Velikan, Doch Velikana, Suvenir and Yugana were very large (1.31—1.44 g); the fruits of the cultivars Bakcharskaya Yubileynaya, Vostorg, Gordost Bakchara, Zvyozdochka, Ivushka, Izbrannitsa, Lazurit (control cultivar), Morena, Omega, Pavlovskaya, Silginka and Sodruzhestvo were large (0.96—1.18 g).

The assortment of plums for the Ural region needs to be expanded and improved. For breeding, it is extremely important to have fertile pollen with high viability. However, no target study of the pollen characteristics from plum cultivars in the region had been carried out yet. The objects were the cultivars zoned in the Ural region: Uralskaya Zolotistaya, Pionerka, Evridika, Dominika and Sapfir. Pollen fertility was studied using the acetocarmine method, and stained slides were examined using an optical microscope. The viability was tested by germinating pollen on nutrient media in vitro. For the statistical analysis, MS Excel 2013 and Statistica 10.0 software packages were used. The pollen grains from Dominika were infertile, had no germination in vitro. The pollen grains from Sapfir sparsely developed, in spite of the anthers development. In other cultivars, more than 90% of pollen grains were fertile, the pollen germination averaged from 56 to 65%. Differences in the linear sizes of pollen grains were revealed between the cultivars. Dominica had the smallest pollen grains, which was probably due to its sterility. The other cultivars demonstrated the size variation of their pollen grains. Pionerka and Evridika had large pollen grains. One-way ANOVA with the following post-hoc analysis revealed that there were no significant differences in the size of the polar axis of pollen grains only between “Pionerka” and “Eurydice”, and in other cases differences were observed (F(3, 83) = 43.799, p < 0.00001). The comparison of the cultivars by the size of the equatorial diameter of pollen grains using the Kruskal-Wallis tests showed that there was difference between all studied cultivars (H (3, 87) = 48.09812, p < 0.00001), which was additionally confirmed by the U-criterion (p < 0.05). The identified pollen differences confirmed the prospects of using pollen from Uralskaya Zolotistaya, Pionerka and Evridika in hybridization. The results provide the opportunity to use the studied cultivars for further breeding.

This article presents the assessment of 38 single-fruiting strawberry cultivars for the soluble solids content (SSC) in the conditions of the forest-steppe of the Novosibirsk Ob region. Experiments were carried out on plantings in 2016, 2018 for two cultivation cycles; the soil cover was represented by gray forest soils; irrigation and pesticide were not used. The years of the study 2018—2020 were distinguished by contrasting indicators of moisture availability and air temperature during the periods of crop formation. SSC was determined in a field laboratory using a refractometer “RI3”, the results were expressed in percentages. Berries without defects were analyzed at the peak of their ripeness, which was evaluated visually by the characteristic color of the fruit surface and the longitudinal section. The best indicator for the harvest period was used for a two-factor variance analysis (ANOVA). The cultivars of the collection were grouped according to their adaptability to local conditions: 1: the most adaptable; 2: less adaptable, including poorly studied samples. The SSC for three years was determined ≥ 10.0% in all the studied cultivars and ≥ 12 % in 71% of cultivars. The ANOVA results for the first group of cultivars showed that the variability of the studied trait was more influenced by the genotype factor (48.7—75.9%), its effect was insignificant (p = 0.138) when comparing the data obtained in the years (2018, 2020) with contrasting weather conditions, while the degree of the influence of weather conditions of the year was 21.8% (p = 0.001). Such cultivars as Anastasia (10.2—12.5%), Lutovskaya (10.5—12.6%); Tanyusha (11.0—12.5%); Elsanta (11.3—13.0%) and Honeoye (12.6—15.2%) showed consistently high indicators (V < 10%) for three years. The ANOVA results for group 2 found significant influences of both factors: "genotype" 60.3% (p = 0.038) and ”year” 12.6% (p = 0.014). The cultivars in the 2nd group were distributed according to the data for two years: Bersenevskaya (10.23—10.94%), Kokinskaya Zarya (11.49—12.40%) and Sadovospasskaya (11.39—12.23%) as the most stable cultivars (LSD₀₅ = 1.01%); Gigantella, Corona and Vima Xima had the SSC > 12.0%; Vima Kimberly corresponded to both parameters (13.70—14.36%).

One of the most important areas of innovation in the industrial horticulture of the Crimea is the development and dissemination of new high-intensity technologies for fruit production, which can significantly increase the fruiting resource of the orchard. The article presents the results of research in pear plantations of the Maria pear cultivar in the intensive orchard of 2013 planting on the stock of quince VA-29 in the Crimean Experimental Horticulture Station department of the Federal State Budgetary Institution "NBS-NSC". The objects of the research were the crown shapes: slender spindle (control), leaderless flattened, flattened fusiform, three-leader and Crimean columnar planted with a planting pattern of 4.0 × 1.5 m. It has been established that the cultivation of pear in the conditions of the foothill zone of the Crimean Peninsula is highly profitable with the use of low labor-intensive crown forms: leaderless flattened, flattened fusiform and Crimean columnar in combination with the Maria cultivar. It has also been established that for pruning trees with the above crown shapes, one worker needs to spend 1.9—2.5 times less working time and receive a specific load of fruits 1.6—2.2 times higher according to the projection of the crown and 1.8—2.4 times higher by crown volume compared to the slender spindle (control). The average yield for the period 2018—2021 was: 23.3 t/ha (flattened fusiform crown) and 15.4 t/ha (leaderless flattened crown), which provide a profit per 1 hectare in the amount of 798.5 thousand rubles and 628.5 thousand rubles. The yield of pear trees with the Crimean columnar crown shape was somewhat lower – 13.4 t/ha, where the profit was 472.1 thousand rubles from 1 hectare. In the course of the research, an increase in biometric indicators was observed in trees with a flattened fusiform crown and a three-leader tree by 7.0% and 12.3%, respectively, and in a leaderless flattened crown these indicators were more compact by 10.4% (according to the crown projection) and by 26.2% (according to crown volume).