Ecologization of cultivar adopted technologies for scab protection and nutrition program of an apple tree in orchard and nursery

¹ I.V. Michurin Federal Scientific Centre, Michurina str., 30, Michurinsk, 393774, Russia
² Michurinsk State Agrarian University, Internatsionalnaya str., Michurinsk, 393760, Russia

^* Corresponding author: andrey.kuzin1967@yandex.ru

Abstract

Different apple cultivars require a different approach to plant protection and nutrition according to their genotypic features. Currently, due to the relatively large number of cultivars in orchards and nurseries of horticultural farms, this approach is rarely used. Our work aimed to study the effectiveness of various foliar fertilizers and protection products in tank mixtures for the scab suppression and their impact on productivity according to cv’s genotypic features of ’Lobo’ and ’Zhigulevskoye’. The efficiency of protection and nutrition programs was studied in the nursery and orchard circumstances. According to generally accepted methods, we did our research in 2013-2015 in the experimental orchard and nursery of I.V. Michurin Federal Scientific Centre. We determined the biological effectiveness of the plant protection systems used, the development of productivity components (fruitset from free pollination, average fruit weight and yield per tree), the content of primary nutrients in soil, leaves, and fruits. The ecologized system has provided a sufficiently high level of protection, which allows recommending to producers. The introduction of such ecologized protection and nutrition systems that reduce the pesticide load assumes a much higher account of the interaction of apple trees with other plant and animal species and lifeless components of the nursery and orchard ecosystem. The use of an ecologized foliar nutrition system provided a high enough level of plant protection effectiveness, especially when combined with regular soil fertilizer application, and optimizing the mineral composition of leaves and fruits. Biologization of soil nutrition is one of the most critical tasks for preserving soil fertility in intensive horticulture. The soil application of bacterial fertilizers stimulated a significant increase in the average annual growth rate and stem diameters of young apple trees in the nursery and yield in the orchard. However, the highest results were obtained when applying bacteria cultures and artificial fertilizers at a reduced application rate.