Currant Nara

Black currant is a berry culture loved by the people of Russia. Even with the modern variety of varieties, our gardeners give preference to the developments of domestic breeding. These varieties were bred taking into account the Russian natural and climatic conditions. For example, the black currant variety Nara is zoned for the Central region of the country.

The variety was bred by the famous Russian scientist, Doctor of Agricultural Sciences A.I. Astakhov. His entire career was associated with the Bryansk region: from the position of an employee of a local experimental station to a leading specialist in the fruit department at the All-Russian Research Institute of Lupine. This scientific institution became one of the branches of the Federal Scientific Center "VIK im. VR Williams ", which is declared the originator of the Nara variety.

Alexander Ivanovich Astakhov worked with many fruit and berry crops, but he paid special attention to black currant. He created 12 large-fruited varieties of this berry.

The Nara variety was the result of crossing the high-yielding Siberian variety Seyanets Golubki and the hybrid form numbered 32-77. The application for admission was filed in 1994, and five years later the variety was included in the State Register. The name of the variety is most likely associated with the Nara River, which flows in the neighboring Kaluga region of Bryansk.

Nara is a winter-hardy, resistant to major diseases, large-fruited variety of early ripening black currant with a sweet and sour taste. Has a high yield and universal application.

Slightly spreading bushes grow up to 1.5-2 m in height. The shoots of the plant are slightly curved, olive shade. The leaves are large, dark green, wrinkled-leathery, with three lobes and pointed tops.

The variety belongs to large-fruited, the mass of even rounded berries ranges from 1.9-2 g to 3.3 g. Black berries with a dense shiny skin hang on elongated stalks. When assembled, they are not damaged, they remain dry when separated. The pulp is greenish in color.

Tasters give the variety a high score of 4.3-4.6 points. A large amount of vitamin C (about 180 mg / 100 g), vitamins A, group B and others makes currants an irreplaceable product in our diet with unique medicinal properties.

Juicy fragrant berries have a sweet-sour dessert taste and contain: 6.8% sugars and 2.5% acids. They use them fresh, freeze them, make fruit drinks and compote, prepare jam, jam, marmalade and marshmallow. Do not forget about the leaves - they give their specific aroma to freshly brewed tea. They are also used for pickling tomatoes and cucumbers.

The amicable ripening of berries in this early-maturing variety begins in the first decade of June. A full harvest is harvested from 3-4 years of plant life. Fruiting lasts about 2.5 weeks.

Correct agricultural technology will ensure a stable harvest of this currant for 15-20 years. The Nara bush yields an average of 8 to 14 kg of berries. The industrial tax is 58 centners per hectare.

The harvested currants will not lose their presentation within three days of transportation. In a cool place, the harvest is perfectly stored for up to 5 days.

The variety is approved for private and industrial cultivation in the gardens of the North-West, Central, Volga-Vyatka regions and the Middle Volga. Such unfavorable weather factors as short-term dry periods and winter frosts are tolerated by Nara.

Despite the absence of the southern regions in the "passport" of the variety from the State Register, many gardeners and nurseries of the Krasnodar Territory successfully plant and propagate Naru.

This self-fertile variety does not need forced pollination, but planting other varieties next to a bush with the same flowering time will have a positive effect on the yield. In May, the plant blooms with small flowers with a reddish tint.

Planting is carried out in autumn or spring after warming up the soil. The following methods are used for reproduction.

• Cuttings - basal shoots, cut into 25-30 cm segments with 3-6 buds, are rooted in a sand-peat mixture.

• Layers - the branches of the plant are bent to the ground and instilled. Vertical rooted shoots grow from the lateral buds.

• Division of the bush - the dug out bush is carefully divided into 2-4 parts with a developed root system for each.

The best place to grow Nara will be a sunny, flat area with loamy, loose soil. The soil must be prepared: to improve the structure, river sand is added, high acidity is reduced by adding lime. Avoid places with a close occurrence of groundwater, and do not plant bushes next to a septic tank.

For each seedling, a hole of 50 x 50 cm is dug, a mixture of humus, ash and a mineral phosphorus additive is poured onto the bottom. Having filled up the hole, it is left alone for a week or two so that the soil settles. Only after that, the seedlings are rooted, deepening the root collar by 7-10 cm. Watering is carried out and the shoot is cut off, leaving about 15 cm above the ground.

Gardeners love the variety for its unpretentiousness, good immunity, frost and drought resistance.

Agrotechnical care for Nara includes:

• regular watering (2-3 buckets for a bush);

• loosening and weeding of soil;

• seasonal pruning to rejuvenate the bush;

• natural and complex dressings - nitrogen in the spring, phosphorus-potassium when tying berries.

If fertilizers were applied during the rooting of the seedling, then only in the 3rd year of the life of the bush they begin to be added regularly.

Variety Nara is resistant to terry virus and powdery mildew fungus.

Against numerous pests: aphids, ticks, larvae of currant gall midge, they are sprayed with biochemical preparations.