Application of vermiculture products as an innovative direction of organic production

Abstract

An important strategy for diversifying agricultural production is the use of vermicomposting and the production of new products from vermicompostfor their further widespread use. Objective. To investigate the effectiveness of the use of vermicompost and the biological product ‘Nanoverm’ obtained from it as a high-quality complex environmentally friendly organic fertiliser for application to grain crops. Methods. The research was conducted at LIGA COLAP LLC, the Department of General and Applied Ecology and Zoology of Zaporizhzhia National University (Zaporizhzhia) and farms of the Vilnyansky and Orikhivsky districts of Zaporizhzhia region in two stages. At the first stage, the effect of vermicompost at a dose of 1.0-1.5 l/t and Nanoverm at a dose of 1.0-1.5 l/t on the first stages of winter wheat ontogeny of Podolyanka variety was studied. At the second stage, the effect of the biological product ‘Nanoverm’ on the formation of biometric growth parameters and yield of winter wheat was studied. Plants of the control group were grown without fertilizers, and the experimental group was treated with Nanoverm biofertilizer at a dose of 1.5 l/t. Results. It was found that pre-sowing treatment of winter wheat seeds with vermicompost provided an increase in seed germination energy by 3.7-4.0 % compared to the control, and laboratory germination by 5.3 %. When seeds were treated with Nanoverm biological product at a dose of 1 l/t, germination energy increased by 4.7 %, and laboratory germination increased by 6.0 %. With an increase in the dose of the preparation to 1.5 l/t, these indicators increased by 5.0 and 7.3 %, respectively. Pre-sowing treatment of seeds with the studied preparations also had a positive effect on such indicators as the length of the coleoptile and roots of winter wheat seedlings. The analysis of biometric parameters of winter wheat growth and yield after harvesting showed that in the experimental variant, such indicators as grain weight, number of grains per ear and yield were significantly higher. With almost the same plant height and a slight increase in the length of the ear, the stimulating effect of feeding winter wheat in the earing phase with Nanoverm was expressed in an increase in the number of grains per ear by 15.3 %, and the weight of grain per ear by 22.2 % (p<0.001). As a result, the grain yield in the experimental group was 8.3 c/ha higher than in the control group (p<0.001). Conclusions. It was found that pre-sowing treatment of seeds with vermigum or biological product ‘Nanoverm ’ improves all the indicators that characterise the first stages of ontogeny of winter wheat variety Podolyanka. Fertilising winter wheat in the earing phase with Nanoverm at a dose of 1.5 l/ha led to the activation ofgrowth processes and contributed to the formation of higher productivity. As a result of a significant increase in the number and weight of grains in the ear, the yield increased by 22.3 % and amounted to 47.2 c/ha. Keywords: california worms, vermicompost, Nanoverm, winter wheat, Podolianka, growth, yield.