BLACKBERRIES FROM VNIISPK GENE POOL PERSPECTIVE FOR BREEDING
Brief characteristics of the five promising breeding of blackberry forms with a complex of economic and valuable features identified during the study under the conditions of the Orel region (VNIISPK) is given. Four of them are obtained from the open pollination of foreign cultivars of Loch Ness, Black Satin and Cheyenne; the fifth form is created by crossing the Caucasian species of Rubus caucasicus L. with the American cultivar of Thornfree. The studies were carried out according to the conventional methods on the well-cultivated plot using a support trellis and winter shelter of experimental plants with a white synthetic material with a density of 60 g / m<sup>2</sup>. The selected blackberry seedlings are superior to the released cultivars on a number of traits: the Agawam cultivar - on the quality of the berries, being inferior in winter hardiness, the Thornfree cultivar - on winter hardiness and some indicators of the quality of the berries and early ripening, being inferior in productivity. As complex origin of a number of economically significant features, these genotypes can be used in the further breeding process. Thornfree × R. caucasicus L. is of value for harmonious ripening, regularity and intensity of shoot formation, high self-fertility and viability. The seedlings from the open pollination of Cheyenne and Black Satin blackberry can serve as origin of high taste quality of berries, early and continuous ripening and winter hardiness. The seedlings from the open pollination of Loch Ness №№ 4 and 13 are perspective in breeding for sweet taste of berries, transportability and lack of plant thorns. The studies have shown that both traditional crosses and open pollination, which can give new genotypes with high indicators of economically valuable traits, can be used in the creation of new blackberry cultivars to obtain a diversity of breeding material. It is noted that the involvement of wild species with valuable traits in the breeding process is promising.