The results of the introduction of the blue honeysuckle in the conditions of the Tambov area

In the XXI century, a great interest is paid to the selection, variety study and testing of cultivation technologies of rare horticultural crops because of their high adaptive potential and the biochemical composition of the fruit which beneficially effect the human body. One of these varieties is honeysuckle, which has developed in recent years from the rare to traditional berry plants and is now cultivated on large areas in Russia and abroad [1, 4]. Through the efforts of scientific institutions and selectors, the State register of breeding achievements of the Russian Federation in 2014 includes 91 varieties of honeysuckle. As a result of selection work of the plants ongoing in All-Russian Research Institute of Horticulture named after I.V.Michurin since 1981, promising varieties have been developed: Antoshka, Goluboy dessert, Lyonya, Pamyati Kuminova, Knyaginya, Troye druzei, Petr Pervyi, Severnoye Siyanie, recommended for laying of the industrial plantations in the central part of Russia. At the present stage of selection, new varieties of honeysuckle should be characterized by high productivity, large size of the fruits, adaptability to biotic and abiotic stressors, suitability for industrial technology of cultivation using mechanized harvesting. [2] To obtain these varieties we need to involve in the selection process of promising local and alien varieties of the new generation.

By the beginning of 2014 on the basis of the Department of berry plants of SSU ARIH named after I.V.Michurin, we tested a rich genetic collection of honeysuckle, with 140 samples of varieties. A significant part of the collection consists of varieties of Bakchar base of the Northern Horticulture, whose economically useful traits have been studied in this paper for the purpose of subsequent isolation of selection sources.

The studies were conducted in the period from 2011 to 2013 on the site of collection variety study of SSU ARIH named after I.V.Michurin planted in 2008. The objects were 9 varieties of Bakchar selection and the control variety of SSU SRISH named after M.A.Lisavenko – Goluboe Vereteno. Methodical basis of scientific - research work was “Program and methods of variety study of fruit, berry and nut crops” [3].

Depending on the climatic conditions during the study period, the development phases varied over years of research, and between varieties. Thus, in 2012 there was an active increase in the amount of positive temperatures, which led to the earlier start of the growing season, flowering and ripening. The beginning of ripening of the early-season varieties was observed from May 18, mid-season - May 20-22 (Table 1). The duration of ripening in the years of research was in the range of 6-11 days. The duration of the growing season was 185-195 days.

Table 1

The time required for the phenological phases, 2011-2013

The bulk of the honeysuckle harvest, like most berry plants, is formed on branches of the previous year. Honeysuckle growth activity depends on agronomic conditions and the age of the plants, as well as quality features. During the period of the survey, all the studied varieties surpassed the control level. The maximum growth activity was shown by the varieties of Bakcharskaja Jubilejnaja and Bakcharskij Velikan (Table 2).

The quality of the honeysuckle fruits is to meet the following requirements - their mass should exceed 1 g, the fruit should have dessert taste and demonstrate absence of bitterness.

The average weight of the honeysuckle fruit under study was in the range of 0,61-1,40 g, with this figure higher in 2013 (Table 3). This is due to the large volume of precipitation (30.7 mm) in the period of formation and ripening in comparison with the previous years. On average for the years of research, the large-fruited varieties should include Bakcharskaja jubilenaja, Bakcharskij velikan, Gordost' Bakchara, Sil'ginka and Chulymskaja.

Table 2

Growth activity and productivity of honeysuckle varieties, 2011-2013

As a result of public degustations, Bakcharskij velikan, Gordost' Bakchara, Sibirjachka, Sil'ginka and Chulymskaja got appreciation for their dessert flavor.

Honeysuckle is among cultures, slowly increasing the harvest in the first years of life. Early appearance of fruits is a priority feature when selecting varieties for laying industrial plants of honeysuckle. The early-season varieties include those giving harvest of 0.6 - 0.8 kg /bush in the 5-6 years of life [3]. In our studies, these requirements are met by all the studied varieties with the exception of Goluboe vereteno and Pamjat' Gidzjuka. On average, for the years of research maximum productivity was demonstrated by Bakcharskij velikan, Sil'ginka and Chulymskaja.

Table 3

Assessment of economically useful traits of honeysuckle varieties, 2011-2013

As a result of studies on a range of economically useful properties we marked the honeysuckle varieties of Bakcharskij velikan, Sil'ginka and Chulymskaja, which are recommended as sources of large-size fruits, dessert taste and productivity in the future selection work.