Humus and humic preparations as a factor increasing the effectiveness of row fertilization

First of all, we will present the results of field experiments in which the comparative effectiveness of liquid organo-mineral fertilizers was studied.

Comparative effectiveness of fertilizers

Table 1. Influence of organic matter on increasing the effectiveness of fertilizer applied in rows for winter wheat

Note:

• In the Kherson region, control field No. 1: winter wheat was sown after fertilized fallow (P of the experiment in 2014 - 1.95%, in 2015 - 2.34%).
• Control field No. 2 and No. 3: after a stubble predecessor following unfertilized fallow.

The data in the table show that organic matter increases the effectiveness of the fertilizer applied in the rows and the use of the P₂O₅ unit. The largest yield increases were obtained in the Kherson region, where winter wheat was sown after a stubble predecessor following unfertilized fallow.

The application of organo-mineral fertilizers caused a stronger development of the aerial mass of winter wheat. For example, if the air-dry weight of 100 plants during the full tillering period in the Dnipropetrovsk region (average for 2 years) in the plot without fertilizer was 28.4 g, then in the plot with organo-mineral fertilizers from loose manure it was 34.05 g, and with granulated superphosphate - 32.05 g. In the Kherson region, respectively: 31.1 g, 42.3 g and 40.2 g.

The more intensive development of plants in plots fertilized with organo-mineral fertilizers influenced the better development of yield structure elements. In the Kherson region, in the variant with granulated superphosphate, there were an average of 2240 grains in 100 ears, their weight was 72.6 g, and the absolute weight of the grain was 32.4 g. In the variant with organo-mineral fertilizers, there were respectively 2320 grains, 90.91 g and 39.18 g.

Conclusions on organo-mineral fertilizers

Thus, it can be concluded that the humus substances that make up organo-mineral fertilizers, when applied to winter wheat, undoubtedly increase the effectiveness of row fertilization. However, the production of organo-mineral preparations in agricultural production often encounters difficulties for technical reasons. Therefore, the industrial production of such fertilizers containing humus substances seems promising. One form of such organo-mineral fertilizers can be liquid potassium humate. Potassium humate is also effective because it can be applied together with seeds, which can drastically reduce the dose of potassium humate.

Study of the composition of potassium humate

We set the task to select such a ratio of components from which potassium humate is prepared (for the Steppe of Ukraine - ballast-free from leonardite) to maintain in them a certain degree of soluble humic and fulvic acids and to give the liquid fertilizer such strength that would simplify the task of planting seeds.

For this, a liquid was prepared from leonardite in ratios to superphosphate: 1:1, 2:1, 3:1, 4:1 and 9:1. At the same time, the amount of ammonia water also varied. The manufactured liquid potassium humates were compared with organo-mineral fertilizers from loose manure and superphosphate with a ratio of 1:1 in terms of the content of humic and fulvic acids capable of dissolving in various solvents.

Table 2. Content of soluble humic and fulvic acids in potassium humate at various ratios of leonardite and superphosphate

From the results of the analysis presented in Table 2, it is clear that with an increase in the dose of leonardite, both the total content of humic and fulvic acids (when boiling for 30 minutes with KOH) and the amount of water-soluble forms, which increases to a certain limit with hot extraction, increase. With hot water extraction, the same amount of water-soluble humic acids was released from the liquid with ratios of 3:1, 4:1 and 9:1.

Table 3. Content of soluble humic and fulvic acids when treated with different doses of ammonia water

Increasing the dose of ammonia in the studied liquids leads to an increase in the yield of humic acids at humate to superphosphate ratios of 1:1, 3:1 and 4:1. At a ratio of 9:1, increasing the dose of ammonia did not cause an increase in the yield of humic acids.

Microvegetative experiment

In a microvegetative experiment conducted in sand culture on a complete Pryanishnikov mixture, the effect of liquid potassium humate of various compositions on the growth of root and aerial mass of winter wheat was studied. It was established that liquid potassium humate, made with a ratio to superphosphate of 9:1, has a better effect on the growth of winter wheat than liquid potassium humate with other ratios. When comparing humates with ratios of 9:1 and 3:1, similar results were obtained in soil culture.

Table 4. Influence of liquid potassium humate on the growth of root and aerial mass of winter wheat in the initial period of its development (three-leaf stage)

Note: The numbers 9:1, 4:1, etc. indicate the ratio of potassium humate to superphosphate when treated with 25% ammonia water at a rate of 15 ml.