Economic assessment of peach breed-grafting combinations in the nursery and garden

Abstract

Goal. To study varietal combinations of peach in the nursery and garden, and to select from them the most fast-fruiting, highly productive, and suitable for creating intensive plantations according to economic efficiency indicators. Methods. Field, laboratory, and calculation-comparative. Results. It was established that the use of Pumiselect clonal rootstock and apricot and cherry seedlings provided higher economic indicators of growing seedlings. The level of profitability of growing seedlings on these rootstocks, depending on the variety, was 115.7–195.0%, 67.5–204.8, and 77.6–195.9%, respectively. On the Pumiselect rootstock, the profit per 1 ha of Kniazhe zoloto and Redhaven varieties exceeded the control by 2.1–1.9 times and amounted to UAH 998.2–813.1 thousand at a profitability level of 157.1–131.2%. In Kniazhehradskyi and Liubymets II varieties, this indicator (983.3–1278.1 thousand UAH per 1 ha at the level of profitability of 157.0–195.0%) exceeded the control values for cherry seedlings by 13.0–9.7%. The Kniazhe bohatstvo variety was characterized by the highest indicators of economic efficiency on apricot seedlings: the yield of standard seedlings was 64.0%, the profit per 1 ha was UAH 1,248.2 thousand, the level of profitability was 204.8%. Depending on the variety, Druzhba (53.3–289.9%) and Pumiselect (74.7–265.2%) rootstocks achieved the highest level of profitability in fruit-bearing plantations. The most profitable varieties were Redhaven (619.4–559.1 thousand UAH/ha) and Kniazhe zoloto (505.7–468.9 thousand UAH/ha), which exceeded the reference indicators by 3.5–6.2 times due to high indicators of productivity (23.8–19.3 t/ha) and marketability of fruits (higher grade). Investments in plantations on the indicated rootstocks in most varieties paid off in 2.5–3.1 years, or 1.4–1.8 times faster compared to the control (cherry seedlings). The Kniazhe bohatstvo variety on plum seedlings had a payback of 3.1 years, which was 1.1–1.6 times faster than on clonal rootstocks. Conclusions. Higher economic indicators of growing seedlings of most varieties were provided by the use of Pumiselect clonal rootstock and apricot and cherry seedlings (the level of profitability, depending on the variety, was 115.7–195.0%, 67.5–204.8%, and 77.6–195.9%, respectively). As for fruit production, this indicator was the highest in plantings on Druzhba rootstocks (53.3–289.9%) and Pumiselect (74.7–265.2%). The most profitable peach varieties were Redhaven and Kniazhe zoloto.