THE STATE SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTE
ULYANOVSK RESEARCH INSTITUTE
of AGRICULTURE
RUSSIAN AGRICULTURE ACADEMY
APPROVED
Director of the SSI Ulyanovsk Agricultural Research Institute
RAA,
Doctor of Agricultural Science
«___» October 2010
______S.N. Nemtsov
REPORT
ON RESULTS OF INDUSTRIAL TESTING OF “ECOFORCE” AGROCHEMICAL ON CROPS OF “SIMBIRTSIT” SPRING WHEAT IN ULYANOVSK REGION
Performers:
Deputy Director of the Ulyanovsk Agricultural Research Institute
on Scientific Work, Candidate of Agricultural Science S.N. Nikitin
Junior Researcher at the Department of Agriculture A.V. Orlov
Junior Researcher at the Department of Agriculture G.V. Siaydiasheva
Ulyanovsk, 2010
In recent years the world practice of artificial regulation of plants’ growth and development aimed at increasing future yields and improving the quality of agriculture produce while reducing its cost, turns into an important direction and effective vehicle for increasing the productivity of arable farming.
Fertilizer "ECOFORCE" is a liquid complex fertilizer composed of water, aluminum nitrate, hydroquinone, sodium orthovanadate, potassium hydroxide. The total nitrogen content is not less than 5.6%, total potassium - in K2O equivalent - at least 0.69%. It is designed for a preplant treatment of seeds for improving the productivity and quality of agriculture products.
Studies on ECOFORCE were conducted in 2010 on an experimental field of the Landscape Dept. at the Ulyanovsk Agricultural Research Institute. The purpose of this study was to establish the biological efficiency of the chemical on spring wheat crop. A small plot field experiment was laid.
The laying of the field experiment was conducted with a 3-time replication. The area of the test plot was 60 m2.
Soil of test plot soil – a moderately loamy, leached black soil with the following indicators: humus content - 5.65%, total nitrogen content – 0.26%, total phosphorus content – 0.078%, pH- 6.6; P2O5 and K2O (on Chirikov) 215 and 103 mg per 1 kg soil respectively.
In the experiment the sowing was done with the Simbirtsit cultivar of soft spring wheat cultivated by plant breeders of the Ulyanovsk Agricultural Research Institute.
BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS AND BIOLOGICAL FEATURES:
Variety of Lutescens. Bush is semierect. Straw is developed rather poorly. Waxy film on the upper internode is very strong. The height of plants – of medium length. High resistance to lodging. Mid-season, vegetation period is 85-90 days.
Main advantages:
High productivity, resistance to lodging and smut diseases, with field resistance to leaf diseases, kernel size and evenness of grain.
Forecrop: winter wheat cultivar "Biruyza (Turquoise)"
SOWING SEEDS' QUALITIES
Culture, variety / Purity,% / Germinability,
% / Weight of 1000 grains, g. / Quantity,
mln. pcs. / Norm, kg/he
Summer Wheat
«Simbirtsit» ОС (Р-3) / 100 / 92 / 38.0 / 5.0 / 250
AGRO-TECHNICAL CONDITIONS OF EXPERIMENT:
List of operations / Date of performance / Tools and tractorsWinter tillage plowing / 15.09.09 / PN-N-35; DT-75M
Winter tillage harrowing / 22.04.2010 / ZBZTS – 1,0; DT-75M
Cultivation / 05.05.2010 / KPS – 4,0; DT-75M
Sowing / 06.05.2010 / СН – 16
Rolling crops / 06.05.2010 / ZKKSh – 6А; МТZ – 80
Treatment with Dimesol herbicide - rate 159 grams per hectare / 24.05.2010 / AGS – 1100; МТZ – 80
Harvesting / 30.07.2010 / «SAMPO»
The seeds were sown without pretreatment.
Complex fertilizers (azofoska) were applied with "Amazon" spreader before a pre-sowing cultivation.
Vegetation period in 2010 was characterized by extremely unfavorable weather conditions. A sustained drought which continued since April completely dried out the reserves of productive moisture in the soil, and not only in the plowing layer, but also in the one-meter layer. High temperatures continued throughout all vegetation period.
Slight precipitation was in the form of short rains, and even heavy rains on the 12th and 18th of July in amount of 17.1 and 8.4 mm respectively, failed to improve that difficult situation, as the moisture instantly impregnated into the soil flowing deep through fractures.
AGROMETEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS DURING TESTING
1 decade / 2 decade / 3 decade /
Month
Current year / Norm / Current year / Norm / Current year / Norm / Current year / Norm2010
April / 1.6 / 0.7 / 6.8 / 4.1 / 5.9 / 7.2 / 5.9 / 4.0
May / 17.7 / 10.1 / 17.0 / 12.6 / 16.1 / 14.8 / 16.9 / 12.5
June / 20.5 / 16.3 / 19.4 / 17.7 / 22.9 / 18.6 / 20.8 / 17.5
July / 22.1 / 19.4 / 23.4 / 19.9 / 26.3 / 19.6 / 24.0 / 19.6
August / 27.2 / 18.7 / 23.2 / 17.6 / 16.3 / 17.5
Precipitation (mm)
1 decade / 2 decade / 3 decade / Month
Current year / Norm / Current year / Norm / Current year / Norm / Current year / Norm
2010
April / 0.8 / 9 / 1.5 / 9 / 1.4 / 9 / 3.7 / 27
May / 2.1 / 12 / 10.7 / 12 / 3.5 / 12 / 16.3 / 36
June / 0.9 / 15 / 4.4 / 16 / 0.0 / 16 / 5.3 / 47
July / 3.7 / 19 / 25.5 / 19 / 0.0 / 18 / 29.2 / 54
August / 0.0 / 18 / 3.9 / 17 / 15.0 / 17 / 18.9 / 52
After disappearance of snow cover (in the first decade of April) and up to July 1 the precipitation amounted only up to 54.5 mm while a standard norm is 166 mm (so it is only 33% of the norm).
The accumulation of effective temperatures was going more quickly than usual. Since the beginning of spring and up to July 30 their sum amounted up to 1483° while the norm is only 1094°, which is 389° above the norm.
The temperature of air during the treatment of seeds with Ecoforce on 6 May 2010 was 28°C, the weather was windless and cloudless.
Experiment Scheme and Terms of Application
Background - fertilizer free / Background - N16P16K161. Control
2. ECOFORCE seeds' pretreatment. Consumption of agrochemical 0.5 l/m, consumption of working solution 10 l/t.
3. ECOFORCE seeds' pretreatment. Consumption of agrochemical 1 l/m, consumption of working solution 10 l/t.
4. ECOFORCE seeds' pretreatment. Consumption of agrochemical 2l/m, consumption of working solution 10 l/t.
Method of Application: pre-sowing treatment of seeds.
Methodology of (Industrial) Testing: application of agrochemicals was performed according to the Dospehov’s method for field experience. Measurements of the field area, and both of the control and experimental variants were made.
Table of Phenological Observations in 2010
variety / Sowing / Start of seedling / Tillering / Booting / Spike-formation / Florifi-cation / Ripe-ness
(full) / Harvest gathering / Vegetn Period
Spring
wheat (Simbirtsit variety) / 6.05. / 17.05. / 1.06. / 9.06. / 22.06. / 1.07. / 28.
07. / 30.07. / 88 days
Tests’ Results:
Sowing - May 6, 2010
Start of seedling - May 17, 2010
Standing young crops - May 20, 2010.
Impact of microfertilizers on field viability, %, 29.05.2010
Variants / Background (fertilizer-free) / Background (N16P16K16)Control / 79.2 / 81.2
ECOFORCE (0.5 l/ton) / 83.9 / 85.6
ECOFORCE (1 l/ton) / 89.4 / 90.7
ECOFORCE (2 l/ton) / 86.8 / 88.1
Data in Table 1 show that almost in all the variants a close-knit and even standing was obtained. A field viability under a fertilizer free variant has increased from 79.2 to 89.4%.
On a N16P16K16 background the field viability in all variants has exceeded the Control from 4.4 up to 9.5%. And the maximal field viability was noted in the variant with a pre-treatment of seeds with ECOFORCE at a dose of 1 l per 1 ton in both variants – on the fertilizer-free background, and the N16P16K16 background.
2. Structure of harvest of spring wheat (28/07/2010)
pcs. / Length of spike
(on 20
Plants),
cm. / Number of grains in spike (on 20 plants),
pcs. / Weight of grains from 1 spike
(on 20 plants), g.
Fertilizer-free Background
Control / 170 / 215 / 7.3 / 26 / 0.6
ECOFORCE (0.5 l/t) / 182 / 224 / 7.4 / 27 / 0.6
ECOFORCE (1 l/t) / 198 / 250 / 7.8 / 28 / 0.7
ECOFORCE (2 l/t) / 190 / 237 / 7.5 / 27 / 0.7
N16P16K16 Background
Control / 180 / 221 / 7.5 / 28 / 0.6
ECOFORCE (0.5 l/t) / 200 / 234 / 7.8 / 30 / 0.7
ECOFORCE (1 l/t) / 219 / 263 / 8.5 / 32 / 0.7
ECOFORCE (2 l/t) / 207 / 240 / 8.0 / 30 / 0.7
Analysis of the structure of the harvest of spring wheat (Table 2) indicates that the studied factors (mineral fertilizers and agrochemical ECOFORCE) have caused certain influence on its elements. Very important in determining the yield of grain crop has an indicator of a number of productive stems per a unit of area. After using ECOFORCE the number of productive stems has increased by 9 - 42 pcs. The highest number of productive stems has been formed on the background of N16P16K16 in the result of pre-treatment of seeds with ECOFORCE (1 l/t) Strada - 263 pcs./m2.
The length of spike mainly depended on weather conditions of the vegetation period. An average length of the spring wheat’s spike was 7.7 cm. On fertilizer-free background the length of the spike varied from 7.3 up to 7.8 cm, on the N16P16K16 background - from 7.5 up to 8.5 cm. A maximum length of the spike was obtained on the N16P16K16 background in combination with a pre-treatment of seed with ECOFORCE (1 l/t) – 8.5 cm.
The yield of grain crops is defined not only by the density of stalks per a unit of crops area, but also by the productivity of an individual plant, which is assessed by such indicators as the number of grains in spike, and the weight of grain from one spike. Number of grains in spike when using the tested agrochemical on the fertilizer-free background was 27 - 28 pcs., and on the N16P16K16 background - 30-32 pcs. A pre-sowing treatment of seeds with ECOFORCE has led to an increase in the number of grains in spike by 1 - 4 pcs. compared with of the control variant. An average weight of the grain per 1 spike in the experiment was 0.7 g.
3. Yield and quality of grain in spring wheat after application of ECOFORCE
Fertilizer-free background
Control / 9.4 / - / - / 26.4 / 25.4
ECOFORCE (0.5 l/t) / 10.2 / 0.8 / 8.5 / 27.4 / 26.0
ECOFORCE (1 l/t) / 11.2 / 1.8 / 19.1 / 28.0 / 27.0
ECOFORCE (2 l/t) / 10.9 / 1.5 / 16.0 / 27.0 / 26.5
N16P16K16 background
Control / 10.7 / - / - / 27.3 / 25.8
ECOFORCE (0.5 l/t) / 11.8 / 1.1 / 10.2 / 28.4 / 26.3
ECOFORCE (1 l/t) / 13.0 / 2.3 / 21.4 / 29.4 / 27.3
ECOFORCE (2 l/t) / 12.7 / 2.0 / 18.7 / 28.4 / 26.9
НСР0,5 (А) – 1.4; (В ) – 1.68; Р – 5.5 %
High temperatures and drought in 2010 were the main cause for low yields of spring wheat (Table 3). In dry conditions of the year the particular importance had a seed treatment, which helped the plants to survive through the adverse conditions. On the fertilizer-free background the yield of the spring wheat has increased from 9.4 to 11.2 centners/he, which is higher from an absolute control by 0.8 – 1.8 centners/he (8.5 – 19.1%). The maximum yield was obtained on the background of using N16P16K16. On the studied variants the productivity with respect to the control plants has increased by 1.1 – 2.3 centners/he or 10.2 – 21.4%. The highest yield has been received under the ECOFORCE (1 l/t) option – 13.0 centners/he, the increase in relation to the control was 2.3 centners/he, i.e. a balanced nutrition of the plants of the spring wheat has been guaranteed.
The effectiveness of any agricultural practice is determined not only by the grain’s yield and yield increase itself, but also by its impact on the quality of the produce received.
Gluten content is an important quality criterion. The baking properties of wheat grain and nutrition quality of bread depend on the amount of gluten. In our studies the use of ECOFORCE has led to an increase of gluten content in the grain, where this indicator on the fertilizer-free background ranged from 25.4 to 27.0, on the N16P16K16 background - from 25.8 to 27.3%. That is by 0.5 – 1.6% higher if compared with the control variants. The highest gluten content was observed on the background of N16P16K16 + ECOFORCE (1 l/t) – 27.3%.
The weight of 1000 grains of spring wheat after treatment with mineral fertilizers has tended to get increased. A pre-sowing treatment of seeds with ECOFORCE on the N16P16K16 background has increased this indicator from 28.2 to 29.4 grams, while ECOFORCE in a dose of 1 l/t worked better (29.4 gr) than ECOFORCE in the doses of 0.5 and 2 l/t.
CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS
The treatment of seeds with ECOFORCE before sowing gives a positive effect on the growth processes of vegetating plants of spring wheat. A leaf area and growth of plant’s biomass is increasing.
The tested agrochemical can be recommended into agricultural practice for a pre-treatment of spring wheat seeds in the dose of 1 l/t in order to improve mineral nutrition, to get higher yields and improve the quality of spring wheat’s grain.