Relevance. One of the most important stages in the selection of agricultural crops for heterosis is the determination of the combinational ability, in particular, the evaluation of the SCS constants of lines of promising hybrid combinations. Purpose: on the basis of the best hybrid combinations, create promising cucumber hybrids for open and protected ground, for various purposes, characterized by a complex of economically useful features, including high fruit yield. Objective: to evaluate the effects of true, hypothetical, competitive heterosis of hybrids and SCA line constants in the studied F1 hybrid combinations.Materials and methods.The research work was carried out in the Pridnestrovian Research Institute of Agriculture in 2014-2018 in greenhouses (spring-summer and summer rotations) and in open ground when growing in a spread and on a trellis. Much attention was paid to the degree and nature of the manifestation of heterosis in F1 hybrids, which were evaluated by early and total yield, the yield of standard fruits, the yield of gherkins and greens. The degree of manifestation of true, hypothetical and competitive heterosis of hybrids is established and the SCA constants in the studied F1 combinations are evaluated. The standards were the F1 Zubrenok hybrids of selection the Pridnestrovian Research Institute of Agriculture and Ajax of the Dutch selection. As testers, JL-6 and L.96 were used. In the studies, selection methods were used-pair and return crosses – backcrosses), self-pollination (incucht), selection (individual, group and mass).Results.With positive effects, all three types of heterosis (true, hypothetical and competitive) were observed in the spring-summer and summer rotations of film greenhouses and open ground when grown in a spread and on a trellis for most economically valuable traits in hybrid combinations 43x57 (seven traits); 71/55x41/86; 65x52 (six); 65x41/86, 65x96, 95x68 (five). High SCA constants were observed in film greenhouses (spring-summer and summer rotations) and in open ground (in the spread and on the trellis) lines in combinations 71/55x41/86 (early, general and standard fruit yield; gherkins yield fractions of 5.1-7.0 and 7.1-9.0 cm (+1.0; +0.9; +10.6; +1.2), (+1.8; +4.9; +39.8; +2.6), (+2.0; +4.4; +36.8; +2.6), (+1.1; +1.5; +12.9; +2.3); 65x52 (gherkins yield fractions of 5.1-7.0 cm) (+12.2; +7.2; +12.5; +7.0); 43x57 (yield of gherkins of the fraction 5.1-7.0 cm) (+1.0; +2.0; +6.7; +2.0).

Relevance. The south of Russia occupies about 45% of the country's vegetable area and produces annually more than 5.7 million tons of vegetables or 48.9% of gross vegetable harvest in the country. The analysis of the state of open-ground vegetable growing in the south of Russia is given, taking into account the dynamics of acreage, yield, and gross harvest. The article presents a forecast of the development of openground vegetable growing in the south of Russia in the medium term, taking into account the organizational and legal changes in the industry.Materials and results. The purpose of the research. Analysis of the state of open-ground vegetable growing in the south of Russia and identification of factors hindering the further development of the industry. The role of innovations introduced into production, variety exchange and variety renewal in increasing the gross yield of vegetables are shown. The reasons of the shortfall in productivity in 10 of 15 subjects of districts below the level of the average district values are given. The article highlights the reasoned judgments about the need to enlarge vegetable farms, expand the range of vegetable crops grown, as well as the need for a widespread transition to organic vegetable growing. The paper uses the official materials of the Federal State Statistics Service (FSSS), reports of agricultural departments of the subjects of two districts, the analysis of which was carried out by the author and comments on them were made.

Relevance and methods. We studied the influence of LED lighting of different spectral composition on the content of photosynthetic pigments in tomato leaves to identify the most optimal lighting option suitable for obtaining high-quality seedlings under controlled conditions. We used LED lamps in which the ratio of the photon flux density (PFD) of the orange-red band (607–694 nm) to the PFD of the blue band (400–495 nm) varied from 1 to 20. In this case, the proportion of the PFD in the range 580-607 nm ( yellow) ranged from 13 to 22%, and the fraction of photons in the range 495–580 nm (green) ranged from 18 to 38%. The research was carried out with two varieties of Belarusian tomato varieties, which differed in a number of morphobiological characteristics.Results. It was found that the use of LED lighting of different spectral composition had mainly an inhibitory effect on the biosynthesis of chlorophylls and carotenoids in the leaf tissue of plants. The decrease in the amount of pigments, in comparison with the control variant, reached 47-57%. It was revealed that under all studied lighting options, with the exception of conditions where the spectral ratio R / B ("red/blue") was 0.8, the value of the total inhibitory effect in the Cherry Coral variety was 1.2-1.7 times lower than that of the Zorka variety, which indicated a significantly lower susceptibility of the pigment fund of the former to LED lighting. The smallest inhibitory effect of the latter on the biosynthesis of photosynthetic pigments in both tomato varieties was established at a photon flux of 69.1 μmol/s, while the greatest, exceeding it by 3.0-3.1 times in the Zorka variety and 4.5-5.3 times for the Cherry Coral variety with a photon flux of 73.9 μmol/s.

Relevance. Providing the country's population with a variety of vegetable products is the most important socio-economic task in the Republic of Belarus. It is necessary not only to increase the production of vegetables, but also to significantly expand their range. In connection with the trend of decline in industrial production of onions, the issue of ensuring the sowing of onions in the annual culture of seeds from domestic varieties and hybrids is relevant. Also in Belarus, the problem is the provision of garlic to the population of the country.Results. In the article summarizes the results of scientific research on the breeding and development of technologies for the cultivation of onion crops in Belarus, analyzed the main and promising areas of work. Data on the results of competitive sorting of new varieties and hybrids of onion and leek, the main technological parameters of growing garlic and leeks are given.

Relevance. The water regime is one of the main processes in the life of the plant, optimizing which can increase the yield of cultivated crops. In protected ground conditions, the plants' water needs are met exclusively by irrigation. Irrigation is the most important means of increasing the yield of greenhouse crops, including tomato. Greenhouse tomatoes are very demanding on soil moisture, as well as on air humidity. To combat overheating of the air and plants, and to increase the relative humidity of the air in greenhouses, plants for evaporative cooling and humidification of plants are successfully used, which are especially effective in drip irrigation. The combination of drip irrigation with evaporative cooling makes it possible to control the water regime of the soil and air habitat of plants.Materials and Methods. The purpose of the research: to identify the most optimal method of water supply for greenhouse tomatoes. The research was conducted in 2018-2019 in the greenhouse complex "Yugagroholding", located in the suburbs of the city of Makhachkala. The object of research was a hybrid of tomato Mei shuai. The experiments included three options: sprinkling, drip irrigation, and drip irrigation with evaporative cooling.Results. The comparative characteristics of irrigation methods by yield are presented, the results of which indicate the advantage of the second and third options over sprinkling: the highest yield was obtained in the third option and amounted to 14.7 kg/m2 . The best methods of water supply that ensure the optimal water regime of greenhouse tomatoes are identified-drip irrigation and drip irrigation in combination with evaporative cooling, the latter is the best in most indicators.

The article presents international and national documents providing regulatory support for the organic market. Organic agriculture, as a special direction of agricultural production, requires separate legislative regulation due to the specifics of relations arising in the process of production, sale and marketing of products, the availability of internationally recognized standards and certification procedures. Most of the countries of the world community have their own characteristics of the development of the sector of organic agricultural products, its production, marketing and regulation of these processes, regulatory support of the market for organic products. Organic farming in Russia today can rely on a system of legal regulation of organic production, including international and interstate acts on organic agriculture (JFOAM, FiBL, Codex Alimentarius Commission, regulations of the EAEU, EAEU and CIS), Federal law (93) and national state RF standards, regional laws and programs for the development of organic agriculture, certification organizations. Prior to the approval and implementation of the Federal Law on organic products at the regional level, several regions of the Russian Federation developed their own regulatory documents that allowed their producers to produce organic products. The legal impact on the formation of the organic market occurs not only through laws of direct action, but also through general economic laws, regulations, state programs, local regulations (for example, private standards of organizations), etc. The current procedure for passing certification in foreign countries and for Russian producers of organic products. The factors and conditions that allow to stimulate producers to increase the production of organic products, to pass the required and necessary certification of farms and products, making local products more competitive in comparison with other similar products are identified.

Relevance. Since the increasing demand for agricultural products, especially at present in the conditions of import substitution, cannot be met without creating new highly productive varieties and hybrids.Material and methods. This article provides a description and comparative characteristics of economically valuable qualities and varieties of vegetable crops, the most common and in demand among the population, created by breeders of the All-Russian Research Institute of Irrigated Vegetable Growing and Melon Growing – a branch of the FSBSI "PAFSC RAS". The experiments were laid on the experimental fields.Results. As a result of many years of breeding work presented varieties belong to different variety types, they differ in groups of precocity, shape, size, color of fruits. Tomatoes – Astrakhan, Bulldog, Avdeevsky, Caspian, Malinovi shar, Moryana, Rychansky, Forward, Orange Avuri, Malinovi Supergol, etc. Varieties of sweet pepper – Atomor, Marble, Novichok VNIIOB, Sprinter, Lyudmila, etc. Varieties of eggplant – Albatross, Diamond, Astrakom, Nizhnevolzhsky, Swan, etc. Since 2021, the Gnomik tomato variety has been entered into the State Register, and the Zarnitsa sweet pepper variety is being tested. The Astrakhan region is also a center for the creation and production of melon crops, their fruits belong to dietary products, are used both fresh and for preservation, preparation of drinks, desserts, home cooking. Watermelon varieties – Astrakhan, Photon, Ilyasovsky, Portioned; melon – Lada, pumpkin – Kroshka and Kapelka, zucchini – Sosnovsky and Jubilee, squash – Tabolinsky.

Relevance. The study of the timing and duration of individual phases of the development of strawberry cultivars of different ecological and geographical origin in these climatic conditions is of great practical importance. The purpose of the study was the determination of the timing of the main phenophases of introduced strawberry cultivars in the Orel region, the compliance of the phenorhythms of the studied cultivars with climatic conditions, as well as the ranking of the cultivars by the terms of flowering and maturation.Methods and materials. The article presents the results of phenological observations for the period 2016-2019. 34 strawberry cultivars of domestic and foreign selection were studied. The research was carried out at the VNIISPK site of primary variety study.Results. Based on long - term observations, on the time of entry into the flowering and fruiting phase, the cultivars were ranked into early, medium and late-maturing. The influence of effective temperatures on the onset of phenophases was analyzed. The sum of effective temperatures necessary for the beginning of flowering of strawberry cultivars of different maturation periods in the conditions of the Orel region was determined. For the onset of strawberry flowering, it takes from126.68 to 260.37°effective temperatures. Early cultivars need the sum of effective temperatures of 126.68-197.55°, cultivars of middle maturation need 146.31-225.44°, late cultivars - 159.93-260.37 depending on the year of study. Fruiting occurs at the sum of effective temperatures in early cultivars from 351.73°C to 465.43°C, in middle-maturing cultivars from 390.96 to 535.44°C, in late-maturing cultivars from 450°C to 649°C.

Relevance. According to the Federal Law of 16.07.1998 No. 101-FZ (as amended on 05.04.2016) "On State Regulation of Ensuring the Fertility of Agricultural Land", owners, owners, users, including tenants of land plots are obliged to: carry out the production of agricultural products in ways that ensure the reproduction of the fertility of agricultural land, as well as excluding or limiting the adverse impact of such activities on the environment. Environment.Materials and methods.The research was carried out on a stationary field experience in the Podolsk district of the Moscow region in 2011-2012. On experience, five-floor crop rotation will be deployed in time: 1) oats; 2) barley with planted perennial herbs; 3) perennial herbs of the first year of use; 4) perennial herbs of the second year of use; 5) winter wheat. The plots were located in the upper part of the slope with a slope of 14% (weakly pitched) and in the lower part of the slope with a slope of 7% (gentle).Results. It was found that on average annually in the slope areas of the non-chernozem region soils lose from the layer 0-40 cm with a surface runoff of phosphorus 0.7-6.0 kg / ha, potassium 2.3-28.9 kg / ha, calcium 7.3-45.8 kg / ha. With anti-erosion methods of tillage on a slope with a steepness of 7%, the migration of chemical elements was 2.2 times less compared to similar options on the slope with a steepness of 14%. Surface runoff redistributes substances along the length of the slope, therefore, it is necessary to take this into account during chemical reclamation of the slopes soils and carry out differentiated application of fertilizers and lime. After chemical analysis of the arable layer of soil, it turned out that the maximum content of humus, mobile forms of phosphorus and exchange potassium is noted in the lower part of the slope, which is associated with the processes of washing and alluvium of the soil.

Relevance. One of the problematic issues in crop production remains the quality of sown seeds. Vegetable plants during the period of generative development are demanding to the conditions of light and heat supply, but the conditions of most regions of our country cannot meet these requirements. Post-harvest refinement and pre-treatment of seeds is also not carried out at the proper level. There are no reliable informative tools for analyzing seed quality. Employees of the FSBSI FSVC, Agrophysical Research Institute and Argus-Bio LLC are developing a method of digital morphometry of vegetable seeds.Methods. The material for the studies was the seeds of various samples of varieties of the genus Allium: Allium cristophii Trautv., Allium schoenoprasum L., Allium fistulosum L. Digital images of seeds were obtained using the HP Scanjet 200 tablet scanner, BMP, TIFF, JPG save file format, 600 DPI resolution. Morphometric analysis of digital scanned images of seeds was carried out on the basis of the Agrophysical Research Institute using the serial software Argus-BIO, manufactured by Argus Soft LLC, St. Petersburg.Results. Analysis of the color characteristics of seeds (values of color components according to the RGB model) Allium cristophii Trautv. revealed a statistically significant decrease in all color channels in the row from the lower tier – the upper, which is an indicator of different levels of maturity. Seeds of various samples of Allium schoenoprasum L. in size (projection area) varied significantly within the species from 2.39 to 3.06 mm2 , in shape they also turned out to be unaligned: elliptical with an elongation factor of 1.99 to 2.21 relative units. Analysis of morphometric parameters of seeds of varieties Allium fistulosum L. made it possible to distinguish the influence of natural and genetic factors on these parameters: the factor of the year had a significant effect (from 43.5% to 45.4%), the factor of the variety – from 39.5% to 43.2%, on the main morphometric parameters of seeds. So, a new approach to seed quality analysis is presented, which includes rapid digital morphometry, data modeling and their integration with standard ISTA tests.