Growing of field-seeded aubergine in the Lower Volga region

Due to high taste and medicinal qualities, eggplant fruits play an important role in human nutrition. On the farms of the Lower Volga Region, aubergine is grown in open field mainly by seedlings that is required the presence of sheltered ground facilities, significantly increasing the cost of this crop. In 2017-2019 in Kamyzyak district of Astrakhan Region the research was conducted on growing field-seeded aubergine on alluvial-meadow, medium argillaceous, weakly-salinized soils. The aim of the research was to select effective preparations stimulating growth and increase of the yield of field-seeded eggplant under the drip irrigation. The sowing of Albatross variety eggplant seeds was carried out in the first ten days of May; after thinning out, the plants were placed according to the pattern of 1.4 × 0.2 m. The seeds before sowing and vegetative eggplant plants in the phase of 3-4 mature leaves, in the budding phase were treated with growth regulators. The research results showed that the seeds soaking in the solutions of growth regulators had a positive effect on their germination. When processing with Ekopin preparation, germination exceeded 1.29 times the indicator of the control variant. The application of growth regulators during growing season contributed to the strengthening of growth processes, increasing of the leaf surface area of plants and the overall productivity of aubergines. The number of flowering plants increased due to the treatment with Krezatsin by 4.2 %, with Ekopin by 6.5 %. The maximum yield of 30.37 t/ hectare was received with Ekopin treatment and exceed the control variant by 8.85 t/ hectare. The introduction of Epin-Extra, Krezatsin, Obereg, Zirkon, provided an increase in the yield from 4.82 t/hectare to 5.13 t/ hectare compared with the control variant.