Title : Productivity of Berberis L. species belonging to the natural flora of Azerbaijan
Abstract:
Global warming, declining biodiversity, and food shortages are major concerns for the whole world. Plants play an important role in solving these problems. The species belonging to the genus Berberis L. have been selected as the object of study due to their great industrial and practical importance.The main purpose of the research is to learn the productivity barberry species of Azerbaijan. Three species of the Berberis L. genus belong to the Berberidaceae Juss. the family was used as the study objects: Berberis vulgaris L. L. (Common barberry), Berberis iberica Stev & Fisch. Ex DC. (Georgian barberry), B. densifolia Rusby. (Densifolia barberry).
Grain yield during the study was calculated according to the method of I.V. Vaynaqy. Morphological traits of fruits and seeds were studied by the method of I.A. Ivanov and N.M. Dudik. Mathematical calculations on the size of barberry fruits and seeds were performed on a personal computer using Microsoft Excel. Berberis densifolia Rusby. species are red, B. vulgaris L. and B. iberica Stev & Fisch. ex DC. in species are scarlet. As can be seen from the table, the morphological characteristics of the fruit differ from the biometric indicators of the species we studied. The length of the fruit varies from 0.5 to 1.2 cm depending on the species. The fruits are divided into 3 groups according to size and weight:
Group I: large fruits - Berberis vulgaris L., B. densifolia Rusby. types;
Group II: medium-sized fruits - B. iberica Stev & Fisch. Ex DC;
Group III: small fruits-no species.
The weight of 100 fruits of barberry species varies from 6.5 grams (Berberis iberica Stev & Fisch. Ex DC.) to 8,5 grams (B.vulgaris L.). The number of seeds in a fruit depends directly on the size of the fruit, as the number of seeds in large fruits is greater than in small fruits. The ripening period of fruits is not the same as in the flowering stage of barberry species. However, this biological process does not prevent the fruits from being harvested at the same time, and the ripe fruits remain in the bush for a long time. Fruits remain on the plant until the end of December.When studying the seed productivity of the species we studied, was evaluated with 2-3 points, referring to the 3-point scale adopted by V.G. Kapper for shrubs.
Thus, no species corresponding to the low-yielding (1-point) and average productive species (2 points) group were observed. 3 points - good productive species- Berberis vulgaris L., B.densifolia Rusby, B. iberica Stev & Fisch. Ex DC. In these species, fruit clusters cover 60-80% of the plant. The fruit covers more than half of the shrub. The productivity of the studied species was determined by the "average model tree" method per plant per unit mass. For this purpose, the selected mass of 5 medium-sized bunches of fruits of each species was calculated (from 6-year-old plants). Based on the productivity of the model tree, the mass of fruit collected from a single branch and a corresponding plant in the studied species was calculated. The number of branches for each species, the weight of the fruit, and the number of branches in the bush were calculated for the area of 1m2 cultivated under favorable conditions and the productivity of 1 bush was determined. In 6-year-old barberry species, the average fruit yield per shrub was 120-240 grams of middle-aged B. vulgaris L., B. densifolia Rusby. It is possible to collect up to 1 kg of fruit from the bushes. In barberry species, the fruits are formed on last year's branches. Young branches give a growth of 15-30 cm in height, depending on the species, and the next year fruits are formed on it.
