Data on the dynamics of changes in fertility parameters of gray forest-steppe soils of the Krasnodar territory under perennial plantings are presented. Significant species diversity of soils, characteristic of these soil and climatic conditions of the region, which are classified according to the recommendations of soil scientists in southern Russia, is noted. Systematic ecological and agrochemical monitoring of the soil was carried out within the boundaries of a 200-hectare test site located in the Seversk district of the Krasnodar territory. The analysis of monitoring data is given for the period from 1993 to 2018. The most detailed analysis was made of the upper part of the soil profile-horizons Aa (0- 25 cm), A (26-43 cm) and AB (43-55 cm). Scientific research was accompanied by generally accepted methods and State standards. In 1993, the soil sections were laid in connection with the laying of fruit plantations. The main parameters of garden suitability and soil fertility were determined. The duration of the first rotation of fruit stands is 16 years. During this period, 12 commercial fruit harvests were received. After the gardens were uprooted, row crops were cultivated on the site for 3 years, and in 2012, perennial plantings were restored within the boundaries of the monitoring site. The leading crop is the apple tree of winter maturation. Already in 2013, as a result of intensive use, a significant decrease in the availability of soil organic matter was found; its losses in the arable horizon (Aa) amounted to 0.18-0.81%, depending on the type of soil. Losses of mobile phosphorus compounds during the study period were in the horizons: Aa – 2.2 mg/kg, A – 7.2 mg/kg, AB – 5.8 mg/kg, which is probably due to its alienation from the crop of row crops for 3 years and non-compliance with the rules for fertilization. The contents of metabolic potassium, the amount of absorbed bases, hydrolytic acidity, soil reaction pHwater over time, and the exploitation of soils for various crops has not changed much. Identified in the dynamics of change in chemical parameters of soil fertility were the basis for the development of erosion control measures, including mechanized tillage across slopes (steepness of slopes on the site does not exceed 3.5°) and regulation of surface runoff by slitting and construction waste channels, and the introduction of high doses of organic fertilizer (50 t/ha manure). In 2016-2017, “traces” of mobile phosphorus and mineral nitrogen (N-NO3) were detected in the soil horizon in areas without organic fertilizers on the background of apple trees entering the commercial fruiting season) determined in the range of 1.0-1.9 mg/kg (Aa); 1.1- 1.2 mg/kg (A) and 1.2 mg/kg (AB). The nitrification capacity of soils in the arable horizon decreased to 11.7-12.0 mg/kg, and in the AB horizon – to 0.1-0.2 mg/kg.

The hydrothermal factors and the high summer solar radiation in the South of Russia actualize the experimental studies and search for objective expressly determined quantitative indicators to evaluate functional state of fruit plants and their seasonal variability in agrocenoses. The main purpose of this work was to confirm the hypothesis of the possibility to use the amino acid proline content as a criterion for rapid assessing effects of abiotic stress intensity (soil and air drought, intensity of solar radiation) on perennial fruit plants in agrocenosis. On the example of apples (Malus domestica Borkh.) varieties Prikubanskoe and Aidared we identified the regulatory functions of special fertilizers in combination with growth regulator Novosil to improve adaptive properties of the apple trees. For the rapid determination of the free amino acid proline content in apple leaves we used capillary electrophoresis in the Kapel 103P device (Lumeks, Russia). To analyze tolerance of the apple trees against the summer period stressors, we used the weight method, determined the content of free and bound water in leaves, and also assessed content of chlorophyll (a + b) and carotenoids in leaves using a UNICO 2800 spectrophotometer (United Products & Instruments, USA). In the course of 4 year-studying (2009-2012) from May to August, it was shown that the leaf level of bound water increased while free forms of water declined. The leaf treatment with fertilizers together with growth regulator Novosil led to an increase in the content of the bound water in the leaves as compared to the control, which indicates an increase in the resistance of the apple tree to stress factors of the summer time. In July and August, at maximum adverse hydrothermal factors, the free proline content in the shoot leaves of apple plants became higher compared to the values under normal environmental conditions (decade III of May). Proline contents annually increased 1.4-2.9 times in July compared to May which is due to a lack of moisture, extremely high air temperatures and excessive insolation. Our data showed that the use of aqueous solutions of special fertilizers in combination with the growth regulator Novosil contributed to a decrease in the proline amount in apple leaves in July and August as compared to the control and led to an increase in plant resistance to stressors of the summer period, that is also consistent with the dynamics of the bound water we found. The conducted researches attest the possibility of using expressly estimated free proline content in apple shoots leaves as an important criterion for assessing resistance to drought and anthropogenic factors in perennial fruit plants in commercial orchards.

The article contains the results of the study of agrochemical parameters of gray forest-steppe soils under the garden in connection with the use of increasing doses of mineral fertilizers. The changes in the parameters of the content of humus, mobile compounds of phosphorus and potassium, mineral nitrogen and pH under the action of fertilizers in doses N 90 P 90 K 90 and N 120 P 120 K 120 were determined. The positive effect of fertilizers on the productivity of the apple tree entering fruiting on the rootstock of MM106 was established. With application of mineral fertilizers to the soil in a dose of N90P90K90, the productivity of apple trees entering fruiting increased by 15.5% (variety Aydared), 62.2% (variety Rennet Simirenko) and 94.5% (variety Golden Delicious); when applied N 120 P 120 K 120 — in the Golden variety apple tree, the productivity increased more than twice as compared with the control variant (without applying fertilizers).

The article presents the results of a field experiment to study the effectiveness of the special complex fertilizers of various compositions in the fruiting plantings of dwarf apple trees Renet Kubanskiy and Prikubanskoe varieties on rootstock SK4 in the Central zone of Krasnodar Territory. Analysis of the results of the study for 2013-2018 revealed a significant advantage of the option with the systematic use of fertilizing in terms of productivity of apple tree. The number of fruits per square meter of crown projection area on the background of leaf feeding annually exceeded the control variant (without fertilizers) by 8-30 % (Renet Kubanskiy variety), 10-60 % (Prikubanskoe variety). The materiality of exceeding the indicator is proved statistically at the 5 % level of significance. Increased reproductive function throughout the study period was due to an increase in the number of green pigments in the leaves of shoots. On the example of the Prikubanskaya apple varieties was determined that the total content of chlorophylls (a+b) in the first decade of June was higher than in the control variant 1.9- 27.5 %, and in the third decade of August, in the range of 2.0 to 44.5 % . Leaf feeding of trees with water solutions of special fertilizers provided an increase in the quality of apples, determined during the period of removable maturity. Weight of the fruit on background of fertilizing annually exceeded the control variant (without fertilizers) was 1.1 to 3.8 % (Renet Kubanskiy variety), 1.1-3.9 % (Prikubanskoe variety). The most stable significant excess of this parameter was in Prikubanskoe apple varieties and in Renet Kubanskiy apple varieties at planting scheme 4.5×1.2 m. In terms of commercial quality, apples were characterized as the highest and first commercial grades, since against the background of foliar applications at the main mass the coloring of fruits had an area ranging from ½ to ¾ of the surface (Prikubanskoe variety). The output of high-quality products (the highest and first commercial grades) in the variant with the use of dressings significantly exceeds the control option. At the intensity of hydrothermal factors in the summer, the receiving of foliar feeding provides a higher level of adaptation of the pigment apparatus to environmental conditions in apple plants and increases the yield of high-quality fruits.

The long-term dynamics of agrochemical properties for leached chernozem under an orchard monoculture has been studied. The objects of monitoring are two testing areas in the south (“Krasnodar”) and in the center of the European part of Russia (“Michurinsk”) without applying of organo-mineral fertilizers and chemical melioration to the soil. A significant decrease of the main fertility indicators within the soils humus horizon has been revealed during the period of intensive growth and stabilization of apple trees yields for the testing area in the south of Russia: a reduction in the nitrogen mineral forms stores and nitrification ability, and in exchange potassium stores. As for the area in the center of the European part of Russia, a trend for the content of mobile forms of phos-phorus and potassium decreasing during the growth and stabilization of apple yields has been revealed. The regression models obtained as a result of the anal-ysis were linear and revealed probable significant trend of the decrease for the observed indicators over time. Quantitative changes in the parameters of the organic matter content in soils within the boundaries of the testing area made it possible to identify the processes of dehumification: in conditions of monocul-ture at the natural level of fertility. During the period from 1990 to 2014, the depletion of soil organic matter contained 7.5%. It is shown that the processes of soil organic matter depletion occur differently under different soil and climatic conditions. It is established that apple plantations, consuming the amount of available forms of mineral elements needed for the forming of sustainable yields, create prerequisites for the development of processes of chernozems chemical degradation. Absence of fertilizers and chemical reclamation on this background contribute to aggravation of this process.

A geoinformation database for assessing soil resource potential for horticulture in Krasnodar region and Adygea has been developed. The results of geoinformation analysis indicate that only 55–60% of soils in these regions are suitable for growing horticultural crops without limitations; about 35–40% of the total soil area is unsuitable for horticultural purposes. For plum trees, the area of unsuitable soils is somewhat lower than for other horticultural crops. Geographically, the areas of soils suitable and unsuitable for horticulture are close to one another. The thickness of the loose earthy soil material, the gravel content, the degree of salinization, the soil texture, and the degree of soil hydromorphism are the major soil properties imposing considerable limitations for the development of fruit-growing industry in the studied regions. The highest portions of soils suitable for horticulture are found in Eiskii, Kushchevskii, Krylovskii, Shcherbinovskii, and Novokubanskii districts of Krasnodar region. The development of horticulture in Tuapsinskii, Slavyanskii, and Primorsko-Akhtarskii districts is limited because of the unsuitability of soils for this purpose. About 8% of the existing orchards are found on soils recognized as unsuitable for horticulture, and only about 20% of the existing orchards are found on soils suitable for fruit growing without limitations. About 70% of the existing fruit orchards are located on degraded soils or on soils with certain limitations for horticulture. The profitability of fruit orchards on such soils is lower than that of the orchards planted on soils without limitations for horticulture. This information is necessary for the adequate economic evaluation of the degree of soil degradation.

Sustainability of fruiting of new and introduced black currant cvs grown in Tambov region under exposure to changing environment has been estimated. The cvs Zelyonaya dymka, Malenkiy princ, Shalun’ya, Dobryi dzhinn, Gratsiya, Olesha have been selected for high adaptive and productive potential.

An electronic database agrochemistry_orchard.db, obtained in field stationary experiments with fertilizers of fruit crops for the period of 1990–2010 with the prospects of developing optimized systems of fertilizer use in garden agrocenoses of various designs, was created.

The application of foliar nutrition for perennial fruit planting has a positive effect due to ability to absorb the water together with dissolved ions and molecules through cuticle of leaves. The article presents the results of two years investigations of foliar nutrition by complex fertilizers in combination with Novosil and Epin bioactive substances and its effect on leaves structure and chlorophyll content in apple-tree vegetative shoots of the Prikubanskoe (scheme of trees location — 4.0½1.2 and 4.0½0.6 m) and Zarnitsa (scheme of trees location — 5½2 m) grades. At the summer period, in the conditions of insufficient humidity and negative action of higher air temperature, the foliar nutrition promotes to a rise of apple-tree adaptive resistance: the increase of mesoxerophytic properties of foliar apparatus and the content of chlorophyll (a + b) in leaves. The combination of mineral fertilizers with Novosil preparation was efficient both on thinned out trees location and on compact planting. The application of fertilizers together with Epin preparation was more effective on the thick planting.