AGROTECHNICS (HABIT) OF HYBRID FORMS OF INDUSTRIAL TYPE GOOSEBERRIES BUSHES

Abstract

The condition for the revival of industrial gooseberry culture is the creation of cultivars that would have a number of economically useful features that are necessary for intensive cultivation technologies and, in particular, adapted to the conditions of mechanized harvesting. The existing assortment of gooseberries is characterized, as a rule, by the parameters of the industrial cultivar that do not correspond sufficiently to the general architectonics of the bush , i. e. compact, straight-growing (orthotropic) growth type, optimal values of the height of the bush, the width of the crown and the width of the base of the bush. Although these parameters are not limiting, they are important for the conditions of machine harvesting. Our research shows that the use of the wild-growing species Grossularia robusta in breeding makes it possible to obtain selective breeding forms in the hybrid generation that meet the requirements for industrial-type cultivars for a number of economically useful characteristics. Since 2001, the Institute has been actively engaged in breeding work with the use of the G. robusta species in breeding programs. Numerous offspring of remote hybrids of this species were obtained and selected forms were identified, characterized by a complex of economically useful traits (the habit of the bush suitable for mechanized harvesting, productivity, sufficient berry weight and resistance to diseases and pests). This article discusses some aspects of the architectonics of the bush in selected forms of second-generation gooseberries obtained from remote crosses with the G. robusta species. It is shown that the prevailing number of selected forms are characterized by optimal indicators of the height of the bush: the average height of the bush is 127 cm, the diameter of the crown of the bush is 107 cm, the width of the base of the bush is 28 cm and the seedlings meet the requirements for mechanized harvesting. When combining the indicators of the architectonics of the bush with the mass of berries, yield, disease resistance and weak thorniness, there is a real prospect of creating industrial-type gooseberry cultivars and reviving the culture on an industrial scale.