Вплив густоти насаджень на біометричні показники і продуктивність рослин тютюну в умовах Центрального Лісостепу України

Abstract

Goal. To study the influence of different densities of planting tobacco varieties on the growth, development, plant yield, and quality of tobacco raw materials in the Central Forest-Steppe of Ukraine. Methods. Field (laying the experiments, phenological observations and biometric measurements, morphological description of plants), laboratory (assessment of yield and quality of tobacco raw materials), statistical (mathematical processing of research results). Results. Experiments were performed based on the Tobacco Research Station of the NSC “Institute of Agriculture of NAAS”. They showed that the biometric parameters of tobacco plants depended on the weather conditions, cultivation, and crop density. With the increasing density of plantations in tall varieties (Krupnolystyi and Virginia cultivars) plant height decreased by 1.5–15 cm and amounted to 166–192 cm (57 thousand plants/ha). For low-growing tobacco varieties (Berlei cultivar) the optimal planting density was 48 thousand plants/ha, at which the height of plants was 127–161 cm. The number of leaves on plants depended on their height and was 19.7–25.7 pieces. Their largest size was found at plantation densities of 40 thousand plants/ha. The maximum yield of tobacco was obtained at plantation densities of 57 thousand plants/ha in tall varieties and 48 thousand plants/ha — in low-growing varieties. However, increasing the density of plantations reduced the yield of marketable raw materials by 2.3–4.8%. The highest marketability of raw tobacco was characterized by varieties Berley 9 and Temp 321, whose indicators were 73.9 and 74.8%, respectively, with plantation densities of 40 thousand plants/ha. For large-leaved tobacco varieties with plantation densities of 40,000 plants/ha, it was easier to break leaves by hand, and leaves that remained on the plant were less mechanically damaged, i.e. productivity at harvesting works increased. Conclusions. For soil and climatic conditions of the Central Forest-Steppe of Ukraine the best density of plantings for tall tobacco varieties (Krupnolystyi and Virginia cultivars) should be considered 57 thousand plants/ha, and for low-growing varieties (Berley cultivar) — 48 thousand plants/ha.