The characteristics of sunflower adaptive reactions under conditions of different soil and climatic areas of the Krasnodar region

In order to identify the areas of the Krasnodar region, differing on sunflower adaptive reactions to changes of agroecological conditions, the long term average productivity values of commercial and experiment crops were used as well as the coefficient values of water consumption and variation. The soil types and the distribution of average climatic precipitation upon the region’s territory were also consid ered. The use of the gradient method of analysis and the principle of identification of areas with different limitation factors according to F.F. Blackman allowed to determine that the agroecologically optimal area for sunflower is the area with average climatic precipitation of 600 mm/year, generally located on the right bank of the Kuban river in the leached and slightly leached chernozem. The territory of the Krasnodar region, located to the north of this area, is in the carbonate chernozem and is also divided into three areas, differing in coefficient values of water consumption and in distinctively different reactions of commercial and experiment crop to the gradient of average climatic precipitation. The territory of the south part of the region is also divided into three areas, depending on the favorable degree of soil types for sunflower cultivation.