Scientific achievements and realities of the sweet cherry (Cerasus avium L.) cultivation intensification at the current stage of the horticultural science development

Abstract

The authors present the results of the comprehensive analysis of the influence of the modern horticultural science achievements on the sweet cherry cultivation intensification. Today in the world’s horticulture practice the main direction of increasing this crop plantations productivity is its comprehensive intensification. Its main link is the type of an orchard, and components – cultivar, rootstock, planting plan and the crown formation methods. In this relation, the major elements of the modern sweet cherry industrial cultivation technologies concerning these components were developed the place of the new inland developments being determined. The analysis of the approaches to the modern intense sweet cherry plantations creation has shown that they do not always correspond to this crop biological characteristics and sometimes are usual adoptions from the similar developments for apple. At the same time the development of the basic elements of the sweet cherry rootstocks and cvs growing intensification lag behing the requirements significantly and cannot be used in apple super-dense orchards. The Institute of Horticulture of the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences (NAAS) of Ukraine for the first time recommended for the Lisosteppe in of Ukraine three new types of orchards on vigorous, medium-sized and semi-dwarf rootstocks with the tree density placement from 417 to 1250 trees/ha in order to ensure the efficient industrial production of sweet cherries in particular, for the export purposes. These orchards are based mainly on using inland high-productive cvs, rootstocks and crown formation methods. The density of the trees placement in such orchards has been optimized by applying the mathematical modeling and tested in long-term field experiments. That enables to utilize effectively these orchards productivity potential. Their advantage as compared to foreign ones is that these plantations construction takes into account both the rootstocks vigour and the variety biological peculiarities. That is the basis for their application in the technologies for growing valuable sweet cherry cultivars which possess the increased consumers demand. The intensification of the sweet cherry growing should be based mostly on the creation of optimally dense plantations that meet the biological peculiarities of a concrete rootstock-cultivar combination