Economic and biological evaluation of Vaccinium angustifolium Ait. introduction in the Middle Urals

Research is devoted to a comprehensive study of blueberry angustifolia, which is a promising berry shrub for cultivation in the Middle Urals. The culture has high frost resistance and winter hardiness, prefers light, well-aerated soils with high acidity. The purpose of the work is an integral assessment of the prospects for introduction and the yield of blueberry when cultivated in the Middle Urals. The studies were carried out using widely accepted methods. Phenological features, growth and development of plants, productivity, frost resistance and winter hardiness were studied, an integral assessment of the viability and prospects of introduction was given. Morphometric characteristics of plants in 2020: plant height - 40.6±3.2 cm, crown diameter - 59.4±3.3 cm, average productivity - 854.7±60.1 g, average berry weight - 0,97 ± 0.10 g. Under the conditions of Udmurtia, blueberries showed stable growth with minimal damage to annual shoots and fruit buds in winter. At prolonged low negative temperatures in December, in the absence of snow cover, the highest degree of freezing in individual plants was 2 points (weak freezing). According to a long-term assessment of winter hardiness in the field conditions of Udmurtia, blueberries can be classified as winter-hardy. An integral assessment of the blueberry angustifolia made it possible to attribute this crop to the second group of prospects. It is necessary to select the most stable and productive forms with their subsequent vegetative propagation.