In the current work, an analytical formula for determining the capillary adsorption potential (CAP) has been derived as a result of solving the moisture transfer equation. A universal software package program has been written in the Python language. The code enables to compute the values of CAP at any soil depth and at any time of irrigation for various soil parameters. To illustrate the code, the results of some numerical calculations are presented at the end of the work.

Improvement of land reclamation methods and ecological state of the soils is essential for the sustainable development of agriculture in Armenia. The aim of the current work is to study the chemical composition of the irrigated meadow-brown soils with an area of 25 hectares in the village of Araksavan.
The results of the study showed that this land plot is not homogeneous in chemical composition. The studied soils are saline and alkaline, and without any chemical reclamation it is impossible to use them in agriculture. Thus, it is recommended to conduct chemical reclamation activities in the mentioned land area.

Technical and economic efficiency of the drip irrigation for intensive orchards has been justified by the example of Nor Artamet community in the Kotayk region. The working principle of drip irrigation system, its performance indices, as well as crops irrigation regime applied in the intensive orchards has been investigated and collated with the same indices recorded in the traditional orchards irrigated through surface irrigation method.
It has been proved that the vegetation period in the intensive orchards cultivated through drip irrigation is distinguished by high economic indices and profitability.
Thus, the latest irrigation technologies definitely ensure development of intensive agriculture.

The main goal of the current research is to study development tendencies of winter wheat production in the period of 1991-2020 and to examine the effect of the changes in cropland areas and yield capacity per hectare on the gross yield of winter wheat in separate periods. In 1991-2005, the gross yield demonstrated extensive (quantitative) growth, and in 2006-2016, it was characterized by intensive (qualitative) growth. In 2017-2020, the yield capacity per hectare decreased almost in all marzes of the RA. As a result, the gross yield of winter wheat annually decreased by 13.54 thousand tons in the mentioned subperiod.

The article discusses tobacco cultivation and cigarette production sector as a traditional and developing branch of the RA economy. The entrepreneurial activities of cigarette producing organizations in the RA have been introduced and emphasized.
The production and export indices of cigarette manufacturing companies have been studied, the exported and imported ratios of cigarettes have been collated and increasing - declining trends have been determined. Besides, cigarette market capacity and self-sufficiency rate has been estimated through specific methodology.

The reaction of the pyrimidine and 1,3,5-triazine hydrazides with various aldehydes formed corresponding hydrazones. Synthesized compounds are endowed with potential bioactivity. In laboratory-vegetation screening, the obtained compounds showed a pronounced stimulating effect on plant growth. The activity of the tested compounds varied in the range of 46–88 % as compared to heteroauxin. Compounds that showed an activity above 70 % in the experiment will be selected for deeper study and further field tests.

The current article discusses the taxonomic composition of parasitoids and the infestation degree of leaf miners with parasitoids.
The species composition of hymenopteran parasitoids of the Braconidae, Eulophidae and Pteromalidae families is studied and presented for the first time in the Artsakh Republic. Eight parasitoid wasps were reared from the 10 leaf-mining f lies which attacked 19 plant species.

The article considers the species composition of pests studied in the apple and pear orchards of Akunk Organic Agricultural Experimental Farm in 2020-2021.
Twenty four species of harmful organisms have been identified, 17 of which are pests, 1 is a tick and 6 are diseases. Among the harmful organisms the Hoplocampa testudinea and Cydia pomonella were identified on the apple trees, and Fire blight was found on the pear trees.

The morphological investigations and yield estimation of some walnut tree varieties have been conducted in the piedmont zone of the RA Ararat valley. It has been disclosed that biological peculiarities of the imported walnut tree varieties Ideal, Chandler and Lara Peral comply with natural and climatic conditions of the piedmont zone in the Ararat valley. They provide growth and development characteristic to the mentioned varieties, and in the 10th to 12th year of the orchard establishment, 3.1-4.3 t/ha yield is produced.

Pruning is vital for producing healthy and high quality yield. Nowadays, pruning of fruit and berry plants is considered to be one of the most important agro-technical measures. The role of pruning and trimming is significant in the improvement of sanitary conditions in orchards, as well as in foliage development, pest control, regular tree growth, fruiting regulation and its periodicity reduction.
In the result of our investigations it is recommended that annual medium/moderate pruning should be implemented in the orchards of Fortune plum variety and for Vngerka domestica plum variety light or moderate pruning should be implemented.

The paper considers improvement ways of the technology for neutralizing soil polluting heavy metals. The common technologies do not yet specify the effective and environmentally friendly application doses of ameliorants absorbing the pollutants.
The theoretical calculations have proved that there is a quantitative relationship between the sizes of different fractions contained in the ameliorant and the optimal share of the ameliorant, in accordance wih the level of soil pollution. The derived relation enables to calculate the optimal shares of the ameliorants absorbing heavy metals in soil.

The study results have disclosed that in 2020, due to pandemic and war, only recreation and eco-touristic services estimated as 10 mln 755 thousand (30.6 % of the total) AMD were rendered against those of total 35 mln 145 thousand AMD available in Tsaghkadzor city, while the forest rehabilitation activities were underperformed by 3 hectare land area or by 33.3 %; besides, illegal logging increased by 1.8 and 2.2 ha respectively as compared to the previous two years.
So, forest ecosystem-based recreation and eco-touristic services should be integrated in the overall economic system, while at least 30 % of profit should be allocated for the conservation of forest landscapes.

The issues related to the study of multiparity in agricultural animals as a prior biological property, and those to making it more manageable were raised in the scientific research field still at the beginning of previous century. To solve the mentioned issues multiple approaches and hypotheses were drawn forward in different periods, but they were very often mutually exclusive. The article considers the genetic characteristic of multiparous goats per the loci of some polymorphous proteins in the blood and milk with the aim of applying the detected genetic markers in the selection process of the branch.

The aim of the research is to understand the quality of milk and the state of animal health in Armenia, using the Somatic Cell Counts (SCC) as an indicator. As a result, we have received a clear map of milk quality in five regions of the Republic of Armenia, the data of which are extremely alarming. According to the SCC, 12 % of 135 animals have clinical mastitis, 23 % have developed mastitis and the remaining 65 % do not have mastitis. To improve the quality of milk and the state of animal health, we suggested that processing companies apply a financial scheme of incentives and penalties to suppliers.

The article presents the results of scientific research aimed at studying mastitis incidence in first-calf heifers and the affection of udder quarters in the mastitic first-calf heifers on eleven small farms in the Kotayk and Ararat regions of Armenia.
According to the results of scientific research, subclinical mastitis incidence in first-calf heifers made 32.3 %, while the number of affected udder quarters was 78 (per 100 animal units). The clinical mastitis was diagnosed in 10.7 % of first-calf heifers and the number of affected udder quarters was 25.
Upon the research results, the experimental farms were provided with practical recommendations on prevention of mastitis in first-calf heifers.

Salmonella carrier state of ostriches and epizootological conditions have been studied and identified for the first time in Ararat region of the Republic of Armenia.
As an endemic infectious disease, Salmonellosis has caused significant economic damage to ostrich farms. Bacteria carrying birds, caring, feeding and keeping conditions, as well as stressful situations are predisposing factors for the mentioned disease. According to the two-year epizootological investigations, under insecure conditions the indices of infection, death and lethality have made 0.2 (20 %), 0.10 (10 %), 0.53 (53 %) respectively, while the economic loss amounted to 640 000 AMD.