APRICOT CULTURE ECOLOGY IN THE NORTH CAUCASUS

The North Caucasus is a northern border of apricot production in the Soviet Union.
This zone is characterised by great diversity of climatic conditions that gives the possibility to study the ecological role of regions and micro-regions as climatic boundaries for growing of apricot, one of the most sensitive cultures to temperature flactuations.
In many regions apricot flower buds are damaged with frosts.
Cold winter, rainfalls, winter frosts, winds during the blooming period cause irregular fruit bearing.
Apricot suffers heavily from funguous deseases in the regions with heavy precipitations.
Analysis of apricot frost-resistance and productivity in 4 regions of steppe and pre-Kuban zones of Krasnodar territory during 11-18 years shows that apricot flower buds perish from the frost lower -22°C after sharp temperature flactuations.
Found criterion is estimation of frost resistance of apricot hybrid forms, it is used in choosing regions favourable for apricot growing.
Some zones and regions of ecological optimum are picked out for apricot commercial productions.
The most perspective regions are foothill valley, South plateau zone Dagestan and pre-mountain and pre-Trek zone of Checheno-Ingushetia.

V and VI International Symposium on Apricot Culture and Decline

I.A. Dragavtseva

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1981.85.38