DETERMİNATİON OF LEAF APİCAL SURFACE AREA İNDİCATORS İN PEACH VARİETİES İNTRODUCED İN AZERBAİJAN

In recent years, peach and nectarine production in our republic has been 26,311.0 t in 2018, 26,909.5 t in 2019, 29,159.5 t in 2020, and 35,867.3 t in 2021. The highest indicator for peach production among the economic regions of our country has been the Guba-Khachmaz economic region, which has maintained leadership over the past five years, with 13,373.2 t. This accounts for 37.3% of the country's peach production (as of 2020) [1,3 ], [2]. Peach is a species of the common peach (Prunus persica) belonging to the kingdom Plantae, division Magnoliophyta, class Magnoliopsida, order Rosales, family Rosaceae, genus Prunus. However, some Western scientists refer the peach plant to the genus Plum and subfamily Almond. Its international scientific name is Prunus persica (L.) Batsch, and its synonym is Persica vulgaris Mill. [4, p.4].There are three different forms of the peach plant [3, p.37-38], grouped as follows:• Prunus persica var. vulgaris Maxim – common peach;• Prunus persica var. platycarpa Bailey - flat, fig peach;• Prunus persica var. nectarina Maxim - nectarine.Some sources state that the height of the peach plant reaches 3-5 m in Kiev conditions, and 8 m in China and California. The canopy is round or sparsely round, wide. The bark of the young trunk is reddish brown, and as it ages, the bark acquires a greenish-brown color. When there is no fungal layer on the old bark, the bark is silvery [4], [5].The peach plant has a strong growth and the ability to form numerous shoots. The development of shoots is mainly from May to July, ending in early August (until September). The shoots are initially green, the woody part of the shoot is reddish-crimson, and the other side is green. The branches darken in frosts of -20...-25°C, and when the air temperature rises, the branches regain their original color. Peach tree shoots come in several types. The main shoots are strong, but only produce vegetative shoots .