Effect of microfertilizers on the content of trace elements in soil during cultivation of medicinal plants

Abstract

Relevance. At present, the issues of mineral nutrition of medicinal plants with essential elements remain unstudied, and the lack of certain microelements in soils is an underestimated agroecological factor. This necessitates the study of the effect of different doses of zinc and copper fertilizers on the content of mobile forms of zinc and copper in the meadow-chernozem soil when cultivating Achillea millefolium L. and Tanacetum vulgare L. in the southern forest-steppe conditions of Western Siberia.Methods. The research objects were meadow-chernozem soil, Achillea millefolium L., Tanacetum vulgare L. The field experiment was conducted during 2012–2015 on the experimental field of the Omsk State Agrarian University. Microfertilizers in the experiments were applied once in the year of planting medicinal plants. Zinc fertilizers (CH3COOH)2Zn) were applied in doses of 20, 40, 60, 80 kg/ha, copper (CH3COOH)2Cu) in doses of 2.4, 4.9, 7.2, 9.7 kg/ha against macrofertilizer (N135P45K45). Soil samples were collected and analyzed annually in the growing phase.Results. The research revealed that zinc and copper fertilizers on optimal macroelement background at low zinc (< 2,0 mg/kg) and copper content in soil (< 1,5 mg/kg) provided increase of zinc and copper mobile forms content in soil by 108,3% and 54,5% (Achillea millefolium L.) and 672,7% and 61,5% (Tanacetum vulgare L.), respectively, when applied in soil in acetate form. Optimal levels of the content of mobile forms of zinc and copper in the soil were 2.5 mg/kg and 0.17 mg/kg for Achillea millefolium L. respectively, 8.5 mg/kg and 0.21 mg/kg for Tanacetum vulgare L.