Crop yield of promising highbush blueberry cultivars in conditions of the Central Black Earth Region

Abstract

The research comprehensively assesses the yield of introduced highbush blueberry cultivars in conditions of the Central Black Earth Economic Region based on the results of a three-year observation. The study and the analysis of the components of plant productivity and yield were conducted on such foreign-bred cultivars as Bluecrop, Elliot, Duke, Denise Blue, Patriot, Liberty, Chandler. The study was undertaken in 2021–2023 on the highbush blueberry research and production plantation located on the territory of agricultural firm SadMashService LLC in the Michurinsky municipal district of Tambov Oblast. The plantation was established in the spring of 2018 with a planting pattern of 4x0.5 m. The planting material used to create the plantation comprised 3-year-old container-grown plants which had 3 to 5 strong branches. In the process of cultivating the experimental highbush blueberry plants, intensive technology elements were employed. These included a complex irrigation system on the plantation which transported water and nutrients to the plants (a drip irrigation system in conjunction with sprinkler irrigation); the use of peat with given acidity parameters as a substrate (its pH equaled 3.5) for planting experimental plants; the use of coniferous sawdust and wood chips as mulch. The yield was studied over the course of three years. Based on the data obtained, the cultivars under investigation were divided into three groups, namely low-yielding, medium-yielding, and high-yielding. The yield of the experimental plant cultivars in the third year of study varied from 1 to 4.4 kg/bush, and from 5 to 22 t/ha. The cultivars were grouped into two categories, i. e., with large and very large berries. The average berry weight ranged from 2.6 g to 5.9 g; their number varied from 340 to 740 berries per plant.