Results of the adaptive selection of vegetables in conditions of climate change

Abstract

Goal. To determine sources of economically valuable signs, to establish relationships between the morphological characteristics of plants and resistance to harmful environmental factors and to create varieties of vegetable and melon crops adapted to cultivation in the steppe zone of Ukraine. Methods. Laboratory, field, and statistical. Results. For tomato the relationship between the length of the period “germination — fruit ripening and flowering — ripening” (r = 0,89) is determined. For sweet pepper and eggplant the relationship between the length of the period of “shoots — biological ripeness” and “flowering — biological ripeness” (r = 0.66 and r = 0,76 respectively) is determined. For the watermelon there is a link between the length of vegetative period and “tying — ripening” (r = 0.57), heat resistance and the number of breaths on the underside of the leaf (r = 0,69), between the temperature of the upper and lower sides of the leaf and drought resistance, which is respectively r = (–0,59) and r = (–0,52). The correlation is fixed between laboratory resistance and the number of breaths on the underside of the leaf of pumpkin in the field of view of the microscope at the magnification of 40 times (r = 0.74), cold resistance and area of the leaf (r = 0.51) and length of internodes (r = 0.51), between productivity, length of cotyledons (r = 0.53) and length of the main stem (r = 0.52). The zucchini correlates with the heat resistance and the number of spines on the stalk (r = 0.63), cold resistance and number of leaves per plant (r = 0,43). The bush pattypan correlates with the heat and the length of the stake (r = 0.56). The productivity of plants of muscat pumpkins has a high correlation with the length of the main stem (r = 0.84) and medium with fruit weight (r = 0.56). Fruit weight is negatively correlated with the number of fruits per plant r = (–0,62). The number of seeds per fruit correlates with the hardness of the bark of the fruit (r = 0,71) and fruit width (r = 0,61). The hardness of the bark is positively correlated with fruit width (r = 0,86). Conclusions. Over 20 years of successful work of selection workers of Southern agricultural station it has been created more than 60 varieties of vegetable and melon crops, which by their economic characteristics equal to world analogs, and as to resistance against harmful environmental factors they surpass them.