INTRODUCTION OF ROWAN AND BIRD CHERRY IN THE NORTH-EAST OF RUSSIA

For the period from 2015 to 2019, in the conditions of the Kirov region, a primary assessment of introduced cultivars of rowan and bird cherry was carried out according to a complex of economically useful characteristics and with the aim to select promising cultivars for further breeding work. The records were carried out according to the following indicators: assessment of growth strength, fruit quality, pest and disease infestation, winter hardiness in the field. As objects of research, 10 following rowan cultivars were used in the experiment: ‘Nevezhenskaya’ (k), ‘Granatnaya’, ‘Vefed’, ‘Sorbinka’, ‘Titan’, ‘Alaya krupnaya’, ‘Rozina’, ‘Solnechnaya’, ‘Businka’, ‘Burka’. There are 15 following bird cherry cultivars. Рadus avium Mill.: the form of plena, ‘Meteo’, ‘Colorata’; P. × laucheana: ‘Pamyati Salamatova’ (control), ‘Sibirskaya krasavitsa’, ‘Olgina radost’, ‘Granatovaya grozd’, ‘Chemalskaya roskoshnaya’, ‘Purpurnaya svecha’, ‘Neubiyennaya’, ‘Chemalskaya krasavitsa’; Padus virginiana (L.) Mill.: ‘Schubert’, Ch. virginskaya No. 1, virginskaya No. 2; Padus ssiori (Fr. Schmidt) C.K. Schneid.: ‘Syori No. 1’. The analysis of overwintering showed the absence of visible damage in all plants. Rowan cultivars ‘Granatnaya’ and ‘Rozina’ were the most dwarfy, and the most large-fruited (more than 1 g) were ‘Alaya krupnaya’, ‘Titan’, ‘Burka’, ‘Sorbinka’, ‘Rozina’, ‘Granatnaya’. There are more berries in the racemes of ‘Sorbinka’ and ‘Busink’a cultivars. Taking into account the weight of 100 berries, it was revealed that the best cultivars in the experiment were ‘Granatnaya’, ‘Burka’, ‘Alaya krupnaya’, ‘Sorbinka’. A smaller seeds percentage from the pulp was found in the cultivars ‘Titan’, ‘Burka’, ‘Businka’, ‘Sorbinka’. Taking into account the strength of growth, the following bird cherry samples with a compact crown shape were identified: ‘Virginskaya No. 1’ and ‘Chemalskaya roskoshnaya’. The best assessment of the quality of bird cherry fruits was noted in Padus virginiana (L.) Mill. No. 1 and No. 2 and in cv. Pamyati Salamatova. The predominance of the pulp mass over the seed mass was noted in the cultivars of ‘Pamyati Salamatova’ and ‘Granatovaya grozd’. Based on the work carried out, the best economic and useful indicators among rowan plants were identified in the cultivars ‘Alaya krupnaya’, ‘Burka’, ‘Sorbinka’ and in bird cherry cultivars Virginskaya No. 1 and No. 2 and Pyamyati Salamatova.