The influence of potassium humate Mind Extra and Amino Enegry Agro.bio on the wheat crop in the south of Ukraine

A characteristic feature of hard spring wheat is their high protein content, but in the south of Ukraine they yield a relatively lower yield than winter wheat. Therefore, it is extremely important to carry out appropriate work to find ways to increase the yield of durum wheat.

Potassium humate, Mind Extra and Amino Energy Agro.Bio  are very effective means of increasing the yield of a number of crops. The purpose of our work was to study the effectiveness of these humic fertilizers for wheat. For this, experiments were carried out on an experimental field in the Kherson region during 2019, 2020 and 2021. In these experiments, which were carried out on chestnut soil over a layer of perennial grasses, the following agricultural practices were adopted: plowing was carried out in the fall to a depth of 22-25 cm, in the spring - harrowing and cultivation, phosphorus fertilizer 40 kg / ha was applied along with the seeds in the form of granulated factory superphosphate . Seed processing Mind Extra at the rate of 1.5 l \ t of seeds . Amino Energy Agro.Bio was applied  as a solution, as a periodic foliar fertilizer. The size of the accounting plot is 100 m2 ^. The experiments were repeated three times. Before sowing, soil samples from different horizons were analyzed for the content of water-soluble phosphorus and nitrates. The predecessor of the studied wheat in all years of experiments was alfalfa. In the experiment of 2021, water-recharging irrigation was also carried out at the rate of 1000 m ³ per hectare.

The results of the soil analysis of the 2019 experience are given in Table 1.

Table 1

The content of nitrates and phosphorus in the soil
by horizons

These and other analytical data showed that the soil contained negligible amounts of nitrates and water-soluble phosphorus, although the sample was taken from a bed of three-year-old alfalfa.

For three years, we have been observing the process of formation of nodules on the roots of alfalfa. They showed that no nodules formed on the roots of alfalfa during the years of observation, and this, of course, worsened the regime of nitrogen nutrition in the soil. Therefore, we can state that spring wheat sown on a layer of alfalfa in the south of Ukraine lacks not only phosphorus, but also nitrogen.

Thus, the assumption that the layer of alfalfa improves the nitrogen balance of the soil in the south of Ukraine is not confirmed.

The results of the field experiment for the harvest for 2019 are given in Table. 2.

table 2

The effect of various fertilizers on wheat yield

It can be seen from the table that even in such an extremely favorable year as 2019, in terms of temperature and humidity, granular factory superphosphate, applied along with seeds, increased the grain yield by only 0.8 q/ha. The variant with Mind Extra gave a grain yield of 3.5 q/ha. above.

The yield of spring wheat increases dramatically when Amino Energy Agro.Bio is applied against the background of Mind Extra . The degree of effectiveness of nitrogen supplements depends entirely on the timing of their introduction. The most effective terms were the phases of two or three leaves and the beginning of heading. According to this variant, the grain yield was 7.1 centners/ha, and straw - 5.9 centners/ha higher than in the unfertilized control.

The results obtained can be explained by several factors. First of all, taking into account the number of plants per square ¹ m a more powerfully developed and longer root system than on the unfertilized variant, and even compared to the variant where superphosphate was added. It should be emphasized that plants with a powerful and long root system tolerate atmospheric and soil drought much better than plants with an underdeveloped root system. Therefore, Mind Extra improves the development of the root system of plants and should favor the transfer of adverse drought conditions.

The second factor responsible for obtaining high yields in this experiment is, in our opinion, the conditions under which the plants of the best variants were placed during their passage through the light stage. The light stage begins in wheat in the phase of two or three leaves. At this time, the process of differentiation of the growth point into the stem and the future ear takes place. Amino Energy Agro.Bio,  as an effective top dressing introduced in the phase of two or three leaves, contributes to the formation of a more powerful ear, which is expressed in an increase in the number of grains. Thus, plants of the variant where nitrogen fertilization was applied against the background of Mind Extra  in the phases of two or three leaves and heading contained an average of 30 grains per ear, when one Mind Extra was applied.20 grains each, and in plants in an unfertilized area there are only 13 grains. The introduction of Amino Energy Agro.Bio at the beginning of earing has a different effect. It increases the weight of the grain and increases the protein content in it, because by this time the growth of plants almost stops, and nitrogen enters mainly into the ear.

Therefore, the combination of Mind Extra  with Amino Energy Agro.Bio  with nitrogen supplements is a promising type of fertilizer for spring wheat on the soils of the Kherson region.

In the same 2019, in parallel with the field experiment, a vegetation experiment was carried out according to a similar scheme, in which the effect of fertilizers on the spring wheat yield was similar to the effect in the field experiment. The data of this experience are given in table. 3.

Table 3

The table shows that the pre-sowing treatment of Mind Extra seeds contributed to the reproduction of Azotobacter, as well as to the enhancement of the activity of nitrifying bacteria. The effect of Mind Extra  was dramatic, especially on the increase in the number of Azotobacter cells. Thus, Mind Extra  contributes to the development of exactly the soil microflora that improves the nitrogen regime of the soil, thereby creating favorable conditions for nitrogen nutrition. Peroxidase plays a very important role in the redox processes of plants, because with its participation, the latter receive oxygen, which they need for a wide variety of biochemical reactions.

Table data . 3 show that peroxidase activity reaches its maximum in the phase of milky ripeness in plants of all three variants. This is explained by the fact that in this phase, biochemical processes are extremely intense, because carbohydrates, proteins and fats are formed in the grain. Such processes are always accompanied by an increase in redox reactions. Characteristically, peroxidase activity is much higher in all three phases in plants fertilized with humophos.

In 2020, two field experiments were carried out on the same soil and with the same agricultural practices as the experiments in 2019. Their results are presented in Table. four.

Table 4

Efficiency of seed treatment of Mind Extra seeds for spring wheat

(Based on field experience in 2020)

From Table. 4 it can be seen that in 2020, the increase from the sowing application of superphosphate, both in experiment No. 1 and in experiment No. 2, was approximately the same as in 2019. As for Mind Extra , its effectiveness was lower (especially in experiment No. 1), although the increase in yield exceeded the yield from the introduction of granular superphosphate. The results obtained, apparently, are related to the phase of development in which the plants were at the time of the air drought that took place in the middle of summer 2020. In the case when the most severe atmospheric drought coincided with the grain filling phase, the crop frail.

The sowing of seeds in experiment No. 1 was carried out two weeks earlier than in the small-plot experiment. This led to the fact that, during the air drought, the plants of the small-plot experiment were in the budding phase, while those of the field experiment were in the filling period. Therefore, atmospheric drought less reduced the grain yield in plants of the small-plot experiment, and Mind Extra gave a slightly larger increase in yield compared to the first experiment. The highest yields of spring wheat are obtained by combining Mind Extra  with Amino Energy Agro.Bio . Results of experiments 2019 and 2020 showed, in addition, that Mind Extra  is an effective type of fertilizer both under favorable and unfavorable climatic conditions.

In 2021, we set ourselves the goal of once again testing the effect of these fertilizers. The results of the 2021 experiment, which was carried out under the same conditions as the previous ones, are given in Table. 5 .

It is clear that granular superphosphate applied with seeds increased the yield in 2021 by only 0.6 c/ha , while Mind Extra seed treatment  provided an increase in yield by 3.2 c/ha. The combination of pre-sowing seed treatment and nitrogen fertilization this year was not effective.

When considering the results of this experiment, it is necessary to take into account how the meteorological conditions developed during the growing season of 2021. The first half of the summer, due to low temperatures, was extremely unfavorable for the normal growth and development of spring wheat, the seedlings of which appeared almost a month later, while under favorable temperature conditions they appear on the sixth or seventh day, counting from the day of sowing.

Effect of humic fertilizers on wheat yield

Table 5

The effectiveness of the combination of Mind Extra seed treatment with Amino Energy Agro.Bio
(Field experience 2021)

At low temperatures, the light stage is also extremely long, which, in our opinion, largely determines the grain yield, because during this period the process of laying the rudiments of the reproductive organs takes place. Therefore, despite the fact that the plants were in optimal conditions regarding the water regime, low temperatures, especially in the first half of the growing season, had a negative effect on the yield.

It has been shown above that application of Amino  Enegry is particularly effective when it coincides with the passage of the light stage.

Since in 2021 the light stage in spring wheat took place under unfavorable conditions, nitrogen supplements were not effective. We are inclined to explain the low efficiency of granulated superphosphate on chestnut soil under spring wheat by its partial retrogradation in the soil and biological immobilization. The latter assumption is confirmed by the fact that when granular superphosphate is introduced into the soil, the number of Azotobacter cells increases. So, in one of the vegetation experiments, accounting for Azotobacter cells showed that there were 2.3 million of them in the control, and 3.7 million in the case of granular superphosphate, per 1 g of absolutely dry soil.

The same was true for nitrates. The determination of nitrates in the unfertilized and superphosphate-fertilized plots showed that in one kg of absolutely dry soil in the first case, 34.14 mg of nitrates were contained, and in the fertilized superphosphate plot, 43.59 mg. Data on the accounting of Azotobacter cells and the determination of nitrates in the soil indicate that the addition of superphosphate contributes to an increase in the number of certain microorganisms, which can cause biological immobilization. Research material on the effectiveness of superphosphate, collected over four years, allows us to draw the following conclusions: superphosphate, applied together with seeds in chestnut soil for wheat, gives too little yield increase. These increases range from 0.6c/ha to 0.8 c/ha.

Mind Extra turned out to be a more effective type of fertilizer on chestnut soils for this crop for three years than granular superphosphate.

In years when favorable conditions are created for the passage of the light stage, the combination of Mind Extra seed treatment with Amino Energy Agro.Bio in the phase of two or three leaves is very useful. Then nitrogen top dressing in the heading phase is also effective.

Based on the data obtained, the following conclusions can be drawn:

1. Mind Extra  increases wheat yield in field conditions on chestnut soils from 2 dt/ha to 3.5 dt/ha or, expressed as a percentage, from 11 to 35% compared to unfertilized plots.

2. Against the background of Mind Extra  in favorable years, Amino Energy Agro.Bio increases the wheat grain yield from 3.5 c/ha to 7 c/ha , or, expressed as a percentage, from 25 to 35%, compared to unfertilized plots.

3. Mind Extra  as a sowing fertilizer for wheat proved to be more effective on chestnut soils than granular superphosphate.

4. Mind Extra  increases the biological activity of the soil and improves its nitrogen regime.

5. Granular superphosphate, when applied together with seeds, turned out to be ineffective, since for four years the wheat grain yield increased from 0.6 c/ha to 0.8 c/ha, compared with the harvest on an unfertilized plot.