Assessment of the Effect of Biological Growth-Regulating Preparations on the Yield of Agricultural Crops under the Conditions of Steppe Zone

Abstract

Increasing the production of high-quality agricultural products with minimal negative impact on environmental components is one of the priority tasks of modern agriculture. Due to the global world trends aimed at ensuring a sustainable and safe economy and reducing the use of chemical protection agents, it is predicted that the share of alternative biological methods in the European agricultural sector will increase to 10%, the area of agricultural land for organic farming will increase by 50%. Under the conditions of intensification of agricultural production, a comprehensive approach to the use of microelements and microbial biological preparations, which enhance growth processes, anti-stress, protective effect and increase the yield of agricultural crops, becomes expedient. The article deals with the effects of biological growth-regulating preparations on winter wheat, sunflower hybrids, and vegetable peas. It was established that when processing winter wheat with the “Grainactive-C” preparation, the greatest increase in grain yield was observed under the conditions of 3-fold treatment of crops in the phase of tillering, flag leaf, and grain filling (3.2 t/ha, or 18%). At the same time, the greatest effect was recorded when treating crops in the tillering phase, where the yield increase was 2.9 c/ha, or +16% compared to the control. It has been studied that the effectiveness of the preparation “Nano-Agro” when applied to sunflower hybrids also depends on the time of its application. The same increase – 0.9 t/ha of seeds (+12% compared to the control) was observed during pre-sowing treatment of seeds and during the vegetation phase (before flowering), but the yield increase when treating sunflower after flowering phase was only 0.32 t/ha (4%). In order to restore disturbed soils and increase the efficiency of agricultural production, the introduction of leguminous crops into the crop rotation becomes important, after harvesting them up to 80 kg/ha of biological nitrogen remains and humus accumulates in the arable layer of the soil up to 10.8 t/ha. Treatment of vegetable peas seeds with Rhizohumin contributed to the accumulation of humus by 3.96 t/ha. Through field studies, the article proves the positive effect of growth-regulating preparations on agricultural crops under the conditions of the Steppe zone of Ukraine.