ADAPTIVE CHERRY CULTIVARS IN THE CONDITIONS OF SOUTHERN HORTICULTURE

The paper presents a varietal study of cherry cultivars that have different ecogeographical origin in negatively changing weather conditions. It was confirmed that the main adaptive signs of resistance to abiotic and biotic stresses are determined by temperature conditions and varietal specifics. Due to the stressful factors such as annual recurrent spring frosts, abnormally high air temperatures in summer and drought, the most resistant and productive cultivars are identified. The dominant diseases among cherries in the southern conditions are leaf spot and shot-hole. According to the research results, cherry cultivars are classified as highly resistant to leaf spot (damage 0,5–1,0 points): ‘Feya’, ‘Diana’, ‘Dyuk Ivanovna’, ‘Prizvaniye’, ‘Shalunya’, ‘Timati’, ‘Dyuk Hadosa’, ‘Dombaziya’, ‘Vstrecha’, ‘Orotak’ and ‘Erdi Bathermo’; and medium-resistant (damage 2,0–3,5 points) – ‘Krasnodarskaya sladkaya’, ‘Molodezhnaya’, ‘Igrushka’, ‘Juicifrut’, ‘Kirina’, ‘Nefris’. All studied cultivars were characterized by resistance to shot-hole disease. A varietal specific is established by the yield.