SHOOT REGULATION THROUGH SUMMER PRUNING AT THE BULGARIAN GRAPE VARIETY MAVRUD

The present study evaluates the influence of different summer (green) prunings on the shoot growth dynamics of the Mavrud variety, grown in the area of ​​the village of Benkovski, Plovdiv region, Bulgaria. In 2023 and 2024, four variants of summer pruning were applied – control (V0 – without summer pruning), thinning only (V1), thinning and secondary shoot removal (V2) and combined summer pruning – thinning, secondary shoot removal and bunch removal (V3). The results show that all types of summer pruning stimulate shoot growth compared to the control, with the most pronounced effect observed in V3 – the growth in August reached 293.8 cm (over 58 cm more than V0). The increased temperatures and better water supply in 2024 lead to significantly more intensive growth compared to the previous year. The analysis of variance confirms statistically significant differences between the variants (p ≤ 0.05), with the greatest annual progress being recorded for V2 and V3. The study emphasizes that combined summer pruning effectively regulates vegetative growth in strong-growing varieties such as Mavrud, which is of great importance for the balance between growth and productivity of the vine. The results obtained can serve as a basis for optimizing agrotechnical measures in the conditions of climate change in the cultivation of the Mavrud variety.