The current state of various agricultural territories is described, which is associated with changes in their use and allows predicting new combinations for the rational use of chestnut soils in Northern Kazakhstan. Methods based on expeditionary research in 1984-1992, 2002-2005 and 2015-2020 a description of the changes in the composition of vegetation and the territorial use of soils was carried out. Statistical and literature data on changes in the use of arable land and the number of livestock in the study area and in the Republic of Kazakhstan over the years are summarized. At the present stage, ecosystems have been identified where successional processes occur according to various scenarios, which can be divided into 3 groups. These are agrogenic ecosystems on continuously used arable lands according to soil protection technology, pastures and hayfields; ecosystems on short-term unused arable lands, pastures and hayfields, which are used after some time (random alternation); ecosystems on long-term unused arable land, pastures and hayfields. A territorial scheme of the probability of the degree of degradation and restoration of vegetation and soils is given. At the present stage, in the subzone under study, there are ecosystems that represent the following groups: agrocenoses, cenoses of maintaining soil fertility and cenoses of restoring soil fertility. The last two groups of territories should be attributed to the territories involved in the process of photosynthesis, biomass synthesis and playing an important role in the preservation of the natural environment. These indicators are closely interconnected, therefore they create a chain: vegetation, rational use, accumulation and conservation of moisture, accumulation of biomass, restoration of soil fertility. There are territorial patterns of these changes, which are associated with the remoteness of the fields from the center of the economy.

The long-term results of research on the comparative assessment of the effective cultivation of two types of apple orchard on rootstocks EM-IX and MM-106 with an intermediate insert EM-IX are presented. The objects of research were apple cultivars: Golden Delicious, Jonagold, Cimmeria, Crimean with a planting density of 1633-2286 tree/ha. The trees were formed according to the type of free spindle. As a result of the research, high potential opportunities for the use of intensive garden structures in the conditions of the foothill Crimea, which provide high productivity and marketability of fruits, have been identified. The use of intercalary inserts when laying intensive gardens prove their prospects for growing in the conditions of the foothill Crimea, allow you to create gardens without any support with the formation of low-volume spindle-shaped crowns, compact the planting of trees in a row (up to 3.0 thousand trees / ha) and reduce the cost of caring for them on harvesting and pruning, which leads to saving material costs for their creation during operation. It was found that the main biometric parameters of trees (height, projection and volume of crowns, stem diameter, total growth) of the studied cultivar-rootstock combinations of apple trees by 68-89% are due to the strength of the growth of rootstocks, and priorities for these indicators throughout the entire period of research were maintained for trees on the rootstock EM-IX (trellis-dwarf garden). It was also found that in a non-supporting dwarf garden on MM-106 with an EM-IX insert, the specific productivity of trees by crown parameters is 1.2-2.5 times higher compared to a trellis-dwarf garden on EM-IX, and the yield, fruit quality and their marketability during storage depend on the variety, type of garden and planting density. A necessary condition for increasing the efficiency of fruit production in intensive type plantings is the optimal ratio of all technological components, starting from the selection of cultivars and cultivar-rootstock combination and ending with a garden care system on a high agrotechnical background.

The article briefly outlines the history and main results of research on the introduction, selection of Prunus duclis (Mill.) D.A. Webb and the creation of industrial plantations of this crop in the Steppe Department of the Nikitsky Botanical Gardens, in the Crimea and the south of Russia for more than 50 years. During this time, about 10 thousand cultivars of almonds have been studied. Valuable information was obtained on a group of foreign and domestic cultivars, which makes it possible to use them more effectively in the breeding process. The main attention was paid to a comprehensive study of new forms and hybrid seedlings. Of these, the most promising forms have been identified that have the desired properties (late flowering period, sufficient winter hardiness, resistance to diseases and pests with high productivity and good kernel quality). As a result of the breeding programs, 48 cultivars of almonds have been created. In the State Register of Breeding Achievements of the Russian Federation, 8 cultivars are registered, three of which are based on information obtained from the Steppe Department. These cultivars are characterized by high yields, fruits of high commercial, technological and consumer qualities, relative winter hardiness, adaptability to the arid conditions of the Crimean steppe and tolerance to major fungal diseases. They are superior to existing counterparts in a number of economically valuable features and are quite competitive.

The specific and quantitative composition of phytophages of fruit plantations of the Crimea has been determined, numbering 35 (2019) - 38 (2021) species, of which 12 dominate in number and harmfulness, the quarantine status of 2 - and 2 species are not previously encountered. The order Lepidoptera is the most labile. From 2019 to 2021, 11 species of leaf rollers were registered in the gardens of the republic, which is 28.2% of the total number of lepidoptera, of which 4 species damage fruits. Fruit damage by these species in the absence of protective measures at the level of 80.0%. The research was carried out in fruit plantations of the Simferopol, Krasnogvardeysky, Bakhchisarai and Nizhnegorsky districts of the Republic of the Crimea. Entomological examinations, testing of new pheromone preparations and insecticides were carried out according to generally accepted methods, the biological efficacy of the preparations was determined by reducing the damage to the fruits relative to the control and calculated according to the formulas of Abbott and Hendorson-Tilton. The development of Laspeyresia pomonella L. has been established annually in three full generations from the third decade of April to October; Laspeyresia pyrivora Danil. - in one generation from May to July, Grapholitha funebrana Fr. - in two generations from May to August and Grapholitha molesta Busck - in five generations from April to October. To limit the number of apple and oriental fruit moths, the use of pheromones for male disorientation is effective. The method allows to reduce from 9 to 12 chemical treatments on an apple tree, 5-7 insecticidal treatments on a peach. The biological efficiency on an apple tree is 99.6%, on a peach 98.1%. The disorienting effect of dispensers persists for 4.5 - 5.0 months. The use of pheromones is justified ecologically, which is expressed in reducing the pesticide load on 1 ha of 11.7 l, kg / ha on an apple tree and 2.5 l, kg / ha on a peach, and economically - the costs are regained by 3.2 (apple) and 2.2 (peach) times. The objective of the research is to clarify the species and quantitative composition of carpophagous leaf rollers in the fruit plantations of the Crimea, to determine the seasonal dynamics of their numbers and to develop methods for limiting the abundance.

On Quercus petraea in the natural populations of the Crimea, 82 species of fungi from 59 genera, 38 families, 17 orders, 5 classes, 2 divisions were identified. The article presents an original methodology for the collection and multivariate analysis of symbiotrophic fungi on arboreal plants, where fungi are distributed in ecological niches, which are organs and parts of a plant. For each type of fungus, 6 main parameters are recorded that determine its location in the ecological niche: edatop, plant age, its condition, size of the substrate, as well as the intensity and prevalence of the fungus along the tree. Each finding of a fungus is displayed on a schematic drawing of the morphological structure of a tree, which is the basis for building a mycological model. For Quercus petraea, the features of the formation and development of 40 fungal species in 11 ecological niches and 10 edatopes were determined; fungi are differentiated according to the intensity of their development, distribution according to the substrate, confinement to the age of the plant; the dependence of the development of fungi on the state of the tree was established. Distribution of fungi by ecological niches was carried out, the levels of specialization of each type of fungus were established. A new technique for collecting and processing mycological material makes it possible to obtain more than 100 new data on the ecology and biology of symbiotrophic fungi.

A description of a new cultivar Hedera helix 'Peregreenus' is given. In the course of the trial, peculiarities of vegetative mutations in the line of its six ancestor cultivars are traced. Evidence on certain patterns in the development of variegated ivy bud mutations is discussed. A manifestation of the law of homologous series in hereditary variability is revealed, instances of three ways of bud mutations’ emergence are presented, and also examples of different rates of bud mutations’ development in ivy are shown. The sequence of occurrence of vegetative mutations in the linear genealogical chain of cultivars can serve as a model for the unfolding of anagenetic events in circumstances opposite to natural evolution.

The article provides data on the mass fraction and component composition of essential oil from the aboveground mass of Elsholtzia stauntonii Benth. 'Rozovoe oblako' in the phase of mass flowering obtained by hydrodistillation. 50 components were identified, among which the main ones were: rosfuran (47,49±1,93%), rosfuran epoxide (19,00±3,30%) and β-caryophyllene (11,04±1,79%). Based on the analysis of existing literature data on the component composition of E. stauntonii essential oil from various growing areas, the presence of 7 chemotypes was revealed: methylhexahydroazulene-thymol; cineol-rosfuran; cineol-rosfuranepoxide-caryophyllene; caryophyllene-cineol; cuminol-caryophyllene; cineron-rosfuran epoxy and rosfuran-rosfuran epoxide. It has been established that the essential oil of E. stauntonii 'Rozovoe oblako', cultivated in the conditions of the Southern Coast of the Crimea, is similar in its chemical composition to the sample from the USA. The presence of the main components of rosfuran and rosfuran epoxide indicates the possibility of using this culture in the perfumery, cosmetics and food industries.