Evaluation of Apple Varieties by Economically Useful Characteristics and Properties

Abstract

Apple tree is a common crop in Russia. The fruits contain sugars, vitamins, organic acids, and tannins. Apples can be stored for a long time without loss of taste; they are suitable for eating all year round due to the presence of summer, autumn and winter varieties. In modern conditions, effective gardening is unthinkable without the use of intensive resource-saving technologies and varieties. Intensive garden technology includes a set of interrelated operations, the basis of which is: a variety, certified planting material and technical means for its cultivation. One of the ways to intensify gardening is to use low-growing rootstocks, on which trees form low, low-volume crowns. Intensive gardens most fully realize the productivity potential of fruit trees. To conduct research at CJSC Agrofirma im. 15 years of October" selected apple tree varieties that differ in ripening period: Ligol (control) grafted onto a zoned rootstock B-9 and introduced varieties: Honeycrisp, Ligol Red, Empire, Piros, Gloster, Red Pinova, King Roat and Arnica, grafted onto a clonal rootstock M-9. The garden was planted in 2018 according to a 4x1m tree planting scheme with grassed row spacing The growth and development indicators of apple trees changed depending on the varietal characteristics: the diameter of the trunk, depending on the biological characteristics, varied from 3.5 cm in the King Roat variety to 5.5 cm in the Gloucester and Arnica varieties. The length of annual shoots varied from 30 cm in the King Roat variety to 60 cm in the Red Pinova variety. The minimum crown diameter was observed in the King Roat variety (1.0 m), the maximum in the Ligol (k), Ligol Red, Piros and Gloster varieties and was equal to 1.8 m. The largest leaf blade area was in the Gloster variety, and the smallest in the Gloster variety King Roath. The largest fruit weight is in the Ligol (300g), Ligol Red (265g) and Gloster (265g) varieties, and the smallest in the Arnica Red Pinova and Empire varieties (150-165g). The yield of apple varieties in 2022 ranged from 9.6 t/ha for the King Roat variety to 28.5 t/ha for the Red Pinova variety; the yield in 2023 varied from 28 t/ha for the King Roat variety to 64.9 t/ha for Red Pinova.