THE RESULTS OF PEACH CULTIVARS STUDY IN THE HUMID SUBTROPICS OF RUSSIA

The aim of the research in 2021–2023 was to identify peach cultivars and their clones that are most adapted to the climatic conditions of the Russian subtropics, with high productivity indicators. As a result of studying 69 peach cultivars from the Centre’s collection by economically valuable characteristics (the period of entry into fruiting, the terms and duration of flowering, maturation, fruit quality, yield, resistance to biotic and abiotic factors), 37 cultivars with a complex of characters according to the greatest degree of their manifestation were identified. Of the 18 North American cultivars, 16 samples were selected, which were bred in the USA and two cultivars – in Canada. According to the combination of two indicators, 8 cultivars were noted: ‘Viniti’, ‘Dixyred’, ‘Medin Red’, ‘Mayflower’, ‘Sunbeam’, ‘Springold’, ‘Early Blow’, ‘Early Red’; according to the complex of three characters – 7 cultivars: ‘Armgold’, ‘Babygold’, ‘Zolotoy jubiley’, ‘Collins’, ‘Summerset’, ‘Harbinger’, ‘Fayette’; four characters – 2 cultivars ‘Veteran’ and ‘Redhaven’. Of the 16 European cultivars, 11 samples belonging to the Russian group and 5 to the Ukrainian group were selected. According to the complex of characters – a combination of two characteristics, 7 cultivars were identified: ‘Vostok-3’, ‘Donetsky belyy’, ‘Zolotistyy’, ‘Laika’, ‘Osennyy surprise’, ‘Pamyat Grishko’, ‘Sentyabrsky’; by three characters – 5 cultivars: ‘Donetsky Zhelty’, ‘Lebedev’, ‘Slavnyy’, ‘Slavutich’, ‘Ukrainskiy’; by four characters – three cultivars: ‘Pamyat Simirenko’, ‘Plamennyy’ and ‘Pushistyy ranniy’. The cultivar ‘Madeleine Pouye’ with high resistance to leaf curl was introduced from France, and the early ripening cultivar ‘Favorita Morettini’ was introduced from Italy. In the group of Central Asian and Transcaucasian peach cultivars, two samples were distinguished by a combination of valuable characters: from Uzbekistan, a cultivar of medium–late ripening – ‘Yangi’; from Armenia, a cultivar with high resistance to leaf curl – ‘Zafrani’. These cultivars were selected based by a combination of two and three valuable characters, respectively