Abstract
Increasing agricultural productivity and, in particular, the productivity of livestock is one of the primary tasks in the present stage of development of society. This involves rational feeding and the use of biologically active substances, including humic preparations that activate the digestive and metabolic processes in the animal, promoting the transformation of feed nutrients in assimilable form, raising daily milk production and weight gain, and can play an important role in solving this urgent problem. The applications of humic substances in animal husbandry are diverse, but their use as feed additives is not developed sufficiently, and in the EU countries it is not sanctioned. Researchers in different countries have shown that humic substances in animals operate on the cellular and subcellular level, as they do in plants. Low molecular weight fractions HS enter the cell and are involved in metabolic processes, contributing to the optimization of inorganic ion passage through the intestinal wall, thereby promoting the absorption of minerals necessary for normal functioning of the organism. That is how the stimulating influence of humic substances on separate systems and on the organism as a whole is manifested. Humic substances formed from various natural materials are currently being tested in various branches of animal husbandry (cattle, pig breeding, poultry farming, fish farming, fur farming), and all the information received presents convincing evidence of the high efficiency of the humates. Such materials as peat and brown coal, vegetable waste, and vermicompost can act as a source of humic substances. However, in each case, more research is needed, specifying the dosage and schedule of their use.
Highlights
Humic acids (HA) are the main organic components of soil and solid fossil fuels, brown coal, peat, and sapropel
This is explained by the fact that humic substances have high physiological activity, which is expressed in stimulating the growth and development of both plants and animals
The mechanism of humic substances affecting growth, development, and productivity of plants is likely to be explained by their connection with rhizosphere microorganisms and their activation by root secretions of plants treated with humic preparations
Summary
Humic acids (HA) are the main organic components of soil and solid fossil fuels, brown coal, peat, and sapropel. HS are self-assemblies of natural polyelectrolytes widely occurring throughout the environment [6] Such an interpretation is in line with the hypothesis given by Piccolo, who suggested a supramolecular structure for humic substances [7]. Piccolo [8] considers HS as supramolecular associations of self-organizing heterogeneous and relatively small molecules resulting from plant litter decomposition This understanding of the structure of humic substances, according to Piccolo, better explains their significant role in ensuring and maintaining soil’s physical and chemical properties and their reactivity toward pesticides and other environmental pollutants. A possible variant of the supramolecular organization of humic acids is represented by a spatial structure consisting of two to four layers of condensed aromatic systems, supplemented by a network of chain fragments of different regularity and length [11] Today, these purely scientific chemical terms are being increasingly applied in practical agriculture. This is explained by the fact that humic substances have high physiological activity, which is expressed in stimulating the growth and development of both plants and animals
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