In the Russian Federation, 506 varieties of apple trees are approved for use (10 included in 2023) with different periods of consumer ripeness of the fruit. The activities of breeding institutions have made it possible to improve the assortment of apple trees, while it is necessary to obtain new varieties of apple trees with a complex of adaptive traits and commercial and consumer qualities of fruits that ensure stable fruiting, productivity in unstable climatic conditions, as well as a long period of post-harvest storage of fruits; and, accordingly, determining the profitability of using these varieties in production plantings. In accordance with the increasing requirements for varieties, new breeding achievements must surpass previous analogues in a set of valuable breeding traits, which confirms the need to improve breeding programs. The key areas of apple tree selection are increasing winter hardiness, drought resistance, disease resistance, improving the biochemical composition and shelf life of the fruit, and columnar crown shape. Intensification of the selection process is necessary to reduce the time to obtain a new variety and its production development; in connection with this, marker-mediated selection is a promising direction for accelerating the selection process. The review article presents data on the work of scientific institutions where apple tree selection is carried out. The results of many years of work by leading research organizations of the Russian Federation in the field of apple breeding are covered. Data on scientific institutions, depending on their territorial location, are sorted by regions of admission of the State Register of Selection Achievements approved for use. The results of many years of work of leading research organizations, the main directions of apple breeding are covered, data on the use of modern methods for studying breeding material in research institutions are provided, and approaches to the early selection of economically valuable genotypes are presented. The analytical review is supplemented with information on ways to expand the genetic variability of hybrid offspring. The creation of varieties with a high level of adaptability, commercial and consumer characteristics of fruits will contribute to the further improvement of the apple tree assortment in the Russian Federation.

The Manchurian walnut is a highly ornamental tree with large pinnate foliage and a beautiful broadly rounded crown. The species is naturally distributed in Russia in the Far East, as well as in Japan, Korea and North China. It grows in the composition of valley broad-leaved forests on deep, fertile, humus-rich and breathable soils. The Ussuri taiga owes much to its splendor and “tropical” appearance to the Manchurian walnut growing in it. In its homeland, the Manchurian walnut forms large trees, up to 27-29 m in height and 60-70, rarely 90-100 cm in trunk diameter. The root system is powerful, with a deep taproot and well-developed, shallow lateral roots. Trees are wind resistant. Stems are straight. The bark on young trunks is smooth, light gray, on old trunks it is dark gray, with deep longitudinal cracks. The crown is sparsely branched, openwork, on some trees - low-planted, spreading, growing in a plantation – more compact, highly raised. Lives up to 250 years or more. It is of particular interest for breeding work, as it deserves wider use as a valuable food, ornamental and medicinal plant. The fruits are of nutritional and technical importance. Manchurian walnut is the most winter-hardy of all walnut relatives. This paper provides a selection assessment of Manchurian walnut trees of different geographical origin, growing in the green zone of the city of Krasnoyarsk. The aim of the work is to analyze the selection evaluation of Manchurian walnut trees growing in the arboretum of the Siberian State University – an ecologically clean area of the city. When studying the variability, we identified a biogroup that is superior to the rest in height, trunk and crown diameter – B436. Biogroup D160 of Ussuri origin is inferior in size to plants of other biogroups. In 2020–2022, fruiting intensity was studied. Manchurian walnut trees bear fruit annually, but the yield is low: 24-78 fruits per tree. Selected specimens characterized by large-fruitedness and the largest mass of fruits: D 160 (1.2), B 316 (1.2). Given the significant variation in traits, specimens are being selected to obtain breeding planting material adapted to given environmental conditions.

To assess the adaptive potential of very early, early and early-medium flowering cultivars of ornamental peach, their frost resistance taking into account the rate of microsporogenesis, susceptibility to blossom blight, leaf curl and powdery mildew were assessed in connection with their use in breeding and landscaping. According to the results of freezing, it was revealed that the early-middle flowering cultivars subgroup showed greater frost resistance. When exposed to -16 °C in February, the number of live buds in different cultivars varied from 0 to 42 % in 2020 and from 13.64 to 95.65 % in 2021, because they were at later stages of development. The temperature of -10°C in March 2020 had a significant detrimental effect on the opened buds and blossoming buds of most genotypes. The maximum percentage of live buds (48.08-64.21 %) was noted in cultivars at the stage of the appearance of sepals. Frost -3°C at the end of March 2019 before flowering was weak: the number of live buds varied between 79.22-100 % in many cultivars. Three early-flowering cultivars with the highest frost resistance of generative buds (Lel, Frezi Grant and Ruthenia) were identified during February freezing and 3 cultivars (Lel, Miraisikl 2/4 and Ruthenia) during March freezing. Their use in regions with similar frosts in the late winter and early spring periods does not significantly reduce the ornamental value of plants. An assessment of susceptibility to the main fungal diseases showed that early-flowering cultivars are most sensitive to the causative agent of blossom blight. The cultivar Snezhnaya Koroleva showed the least susceptibility to the three studied pathogens, to two pathogens – Lel, Zhisele (to blossom blight and leaf curl) and Lyubava (to blossom blight and powdery mildew). This allows them to be more widely used in landscaping and, depending on breeding tasks, to be used in breeding as sources of tolerance.

This article presents research on the study of winter hardiness of 20 varieties of strawberries in the garden collection of the Orenburg branch of the Federal State Budgetary Research Center of Horticulture from 2020 to 2022. For most areas of domestic berry growing, winter hardiness remains the limiting factor in the cultivation of this crop. The purpose of the study is to evaluate the varieties of strawberries for winter hardiness in the conditions of the Orenburg region and to identify the most hardy. On average, for three years of research, the minimum freezing (0.3-0,5 points) was in the varieties Anastasiya, Bereginya, Urozhajnaya CGL, Carica, Polka. The average freezing (2.0 points) was observed in the varieties Vityaz’, Yuniya Smajds, Vima Ksima, Fejerverk, Lord, Bogota, Zenga Zengana (k), Sudarushka. Depending on the year of the study, the degree of overwintering of leaves on the studied varieties reached 3 points. On average, in three years the least freezing of leaves (up to 0.8 points) was observed in varieties Bereginya, Najdena Dobraya, Rosinka, Rubinovyj Kulon, Polka, Carica, Urozhajnaya CGL; from 1,0 to 1.2 points in the varieties Anastasiya, Darenka, Desnyanka Kokinskaya, Sudarushka, Fejerverk, Troickaya, Vima Ksima, Bogota, Zenga Zengana (k), Lord, leaf browning reached up to 10 %; 1.7 points had varieties Vityaz’, Orlec (k), Yuniya Smajds. The highest degree of freezing (3.0 points) was recorded in an unfavorable winter (2021) in the Vityaz’ variety and the zoned Orlec variety – up to 50 % of the leaves turned brown. Non-hardy varieties were not observed during the study period. According to the results of observations, among the studied varieties, the most winter-hardy in the conditions of the Orenburg region are the varieties: Bereginya, Urozhajnaya CGL, Najdena Dobraya, Rosinka, Rubinovyj Kulon, Polka, Carica.

Potassium is very important for apple tree physiology. Apple plants are grown only in the open air and the uptake of potassium depends on weather and people cannot directly influence it. We have studied the relationship between potassium availability depending on the rate of soil application to the soil, foliar fertilizing and weather conditions in the experimental high-density apple orchard of the I.V. Michurin Federal Scientific Center in 2020 and 2021. Trees of the Ligolcultivar were grafted on rootstock 62-396, planting pattern 1,2×4,5 m (1852 tr./ ha). Potassium levels in the leaves were weakly correlated with air temperature (r = 0.46...0.50) and humidity (0.33...0.52), a stronger correlation was with soil temperature (0.57...0.70).

When replicating apple tree planting material in protected soil, technologies for growing plants in container culture using an organomineral substrate, long-acting mineral fertilizers and plant growth regulators are widely used. The purpose of the research was to establish the effectiveness of the combined use of plant growth regulators and long-acting fertilizers when growing clonal apple rootstocks 54-118 in container technology in protected ground. The experiments were carried out in 2021-2023 according to generally accepted methods. The article presents the results of a study of the effect of joint use of OsmocotePRO long-acting fertilizer for 3-4 months. (17-11-10+2MgO+TE) and plant growth regulators indolyl-3-butyric acid (IBA) and gibberellic acid (GA3) on plant growth and development. These technology elements can be used both when obtaining planting material for planting mother plants of clonal rootstocks, and for obtaining seedlings.

Up to 99 % of the gross harvest of winter barley grain in Russia falls on the Southern and North Caucasus federal districts. The Rostov region is the northernmost region in which this crop is cultivated on an industrial scale. Winter barley occupies one of the important places among grains in the Don region, having every prospect for a further increase in sown areas. Its cultivation allows not only to obtain early marketable products, but also to timely free up fields for other crops. Using the best predecessor in crop rotation and observing the optimal timing of sowing winter barley makes it possible to most effectively realize the adaptive and productive potential of the cultivated varieties of this crop, which is reflected in this work. The article presents the results of many years of field research and comparative analysis on the formation of yield and productivity elements of winter barley depending on sowing dates and predecessors. The research was carried out in 2018-2020 on the experimental fields of the Federal State Budgetary Institution «Agricultural Scientific Center “Donskoy”» in the southern zone of the Rostov region (Zernograd). Barley varieties Vivat, Marusya, Fox 1 were sown according to their predecessors: sunflower and maize on a grain at a depth of 4-6 cm with a seeding rate of 5 million/ ha of germinating grains in 4-fold repetition. Sowing dates: September 10-20-30 and October 10. Record plot area – 10 m2. Based on three years of data, it was established that the highest yield of the studied group of winter barley was given after the predecessor “maize on a grain” when sown in the first term (September 10): Vivat (6.93 t/ha), Marusya (6.84 t/ha) and Fox 1 (6.57 t/ha). The average yield for the three varieties was 6.78 t/ha. In addition, a pattern was identified for this predecessor – a gradual decrease in yield in later sowing periods: the second period (6.69 t/ha), the third (6.57 t/ha), the fourth (6.50 t/ha). According to the predecessor sunflower, the studied varieties on average formed a lower yield than after maize on a grain, however, as in the previous group of experiments, a tendency was noted towards a gradual decrease in the productivity of varieties depending on the sowing time. Thus, the average yield by variety at the first sowing date for sunflower was 6.23 t/ha. During the second period it decreased to 6.20 t/ha, the third and fourth – to 6,01 t/ha.

Fungi from the genus Colletotrichum in the Moscow region affect the main stone fruit crops. In the Lipetsk region and the Republic of Mari-El, these pathogens were noted on cherries. The most affected crop is cherry, which in some years can lose 50-70 % of fruits from anthracnose. Varieties Apukhtinskaya and Rusinka were the most heavily affected by anthracnose. On plum and plum-cherry, the symptoms of anthracnose appear later than on cherry and sweet cherry. The appearance of symptoms is associated with the maturation of these cultures. On the plum, infection of the ovaries with Colletotrichum spp. can also inhibit the development of fruits, and their abscission, especially if the infection of fruits occurs in conjunction with other pathogenic fungi. Molecular genetic analysis of two cultures of Colletotrichum isolated from cherry fruits showed that the cultures belong to two species. These are Colletotrichum fioriniae and Colletotrichum godetiae. Artificial infection of green plum fruits in laboratory conditions showed that two isolates of Colletotrichum sp. godetiae isolated from golden currant and cherry fruits successfully infect green plum fruits. The most effective for infection is the method of infection in the puncture of the skin of the fetus.