Assessment of the shading protective nets effect on berry color and strawberry leaves photosynthetic activity

The aim of the study is to determine the effect of black and light green protective nets on the microcli-mate, fruit color, and photosynthetic activity of photoneutral day garden strawberries (Murano variety) in open ground conditions of a temperate continental climate. Field experiments were conducted on experi-mental plots of the FSC located within the Central Black Earth Region (CCR) (52°88' N and 40°46' E). The soil on the experimental plot is characterized as ordinary chernozem, highly leached loamy, with a heavy particle size distribution. The field experiment design included variants with and without the use of protective nets. The nets were installed during the hottest, sunniest, and driest period of 2023 – from Au-gust 8 to September 7. During the growing season, general illumination, air temperature and humidity, photosynthetic activity of leaves, berry color, total fruit weight per plant, average berry weight, and dry mat-ter content were determined. In the Central Black Earth Region's climatic conditions, short-term use of pro-tective nets with a solar absorption coefficient of 10–24 % (without modifying the spectral composition of transmitted light) has no adverse effects on the viability of long-bearing strawberry plants. A slight de-crease in the photosynthetic activity of strawberry leaves grown under the nets, compared to control plants, is explained by the reduced solar radiation level. However, this does not significantly affect the co-lor, yield, or quality of the fruit. Under the prevailing climatic conditions during the experiment, plants de-veloped more favorably under light green protective netting with a solar absorption coefficient of no more than 12 %.