Efficiency of foliar fertilization of spring wheat variety of String myronivska by zinc and manganese in Polissia of Ukraine

Abstract

The results of foliar fertilization of spring wheat crops of Struna myronivska variety with aqueous solutions of zinc, manganese and their chelated analogues in EDTA (zinc and manganese complexates) at different stages of plant growth and development are presented. The research was conducted on sodmedium podzolic gley sandy soils of Polissia contaminated by radionuclides after the Chernobyl accident. On the average, in 2014–2016 yy. the foliar fertilization of crops at different stages of growth and development of plants the yield of grain and straw of spring wheat did not increased. However, a statistically significant effect of fertilization was observed in the arid conditions of 2015, caused by almost complete absence of precipitation during the second and third decades of May and the first decade of June against the background of high average daily temperatures. Foliar fertilization of crops with zinc solution and chelated forms of trace elements (EDTA) in drought conditions increased wheat grain yield by more than 30 % compared to the control. Foliar fertilization of wheat plants with manganese solution increased grain yield by at least 30 % regardless of the stage of plants growth and development at the time of spraying. Similar patterns were observed for straw. Under ordinary weather conditions (2014 and 2016) foliar fertilization did not increase wheat yield. It is also shown that with increasing yield of wheat grain due to foliar fertilization of crops with aqueous solutions of zinc, manganese and their chelated analogues (EDTA), the concentration of iron, manganese, copper and zinc decreases. The increase in the level of straw yield due to fertilization is negatively correlated with the concentration of zinc and boron in it (r = −0.57). Key words: soil, iron, potassium, wheat, manganese, copper, radiocaesium, zinc.