Selecting of tomato varieties for mechanized harvesting in the conditions of the Caspian depression

The results of the studies on the selection of tomato varieties and hybrids most adaptive to the soil and climatic zones of the Caspian Depression of the Republic of Kalmykia are given. In the Republic of Kalmykia the assortment of tomatoes suitable for mechanized harvesting and included in the State Register of the varieties approved for cultivation in the region is exposed by three varieties - Novichok, Moryana, Rychansky. Therefore, it is important not only to expand plantings under this culture, but also to select more productive, diseaseresistant varieties and hybrids providing continuous delivery of products from the open ground. In this case, special attention should be paid to commodity qualities, even and uniform ripening of fruits on the bush and their easy separation from the stem, to the compactness of the bush, the duration of the vegetative period and dry matter content. The observations over the dynamics of the leaf surface growth showed that the rate of rise of leaf area was dependent on varietal features. At the first stages of development, when the plants did not shade out each other, the differences in leaf areas for all the varieties and hybrids were proportional to the number of plants per 1 hectare. These differences persisted until fruiting began. All studied variety samples were distinguished by high uniformity of the yield ripening. By the time of records registration there was up to 55.8-68.8 % of ripe fruits on tomato bushes. The received data showed that among the varietal specimens with plumhaped fruits, the most interesting for mechanized harvesting by the complex of agronomic traits were yielding capacity (High Color 112 F1, Odil F1); separation from the stem (Moryana); dry matter content (Rio Grande); sugar content (Odil F1); ascorbic acid content (Novichok); strength characteristics (Moryana).