History and main directions of research on plant protection in the Nikitsky Botanical Gardens

Abstract

The article provides information on the history of the creation and development of the Department of plant protection in the Nikitsky Botanical Gardens and the results of modern theoretical and applied research on the protection of native and introduced plants for 2000-2020. The main concepts, directions and methods in the development of integrated plant protection systems for fruit and park plantations are considered. There are five stages in solving the main task of plant protection-the rational management of the phytosanitary state of agrobiocenoses: 1. use of agrotechnical methods of control, including mechanical destruction of phytophages; 2. chemical method of plant protection using polytoxic broad-spectrum pesticides; 3. integrated control in the form of the concept of a reduced treatment scheme, taking into account the economic thresholds of abundance and harmfulness and combining all existing methods of control; 4. managing the growth of populations of harmful organisms using biologically active substances of the information type according to integrated indicators; 5. development of a post-genomic approach to limiting the number of phytophages, based on the use of fragments of natural polymers of nucleic acids, development of contact DNA insecticides based on short antisense fragments of genes, as well as preparations based on double-stranded RNA fragments. Modern research has a high theoretical and applied significance for the development of integrated protection systems for fruit, ornamental, and forest crops in the Russian Federation and Crimea. It allows us to objectively assess the phytosanitary state of the garden and park agrobiocenosis, identify the dominant types of pathogens and pests, predict their development trends, and select environmentally safe, cost-effective methods for controlling their numbers.