PROFITABILITY OF SUGAR BEET FOLIAR NUTRITION WITH SILICON

Abstract

In the years 2015-2016 in Sahryń (50°41′ N, 23°47’ E) a field experiment, with the aim of assessing profitability of foliar nutrition of sugar beet with silicon, was carried out. The following products containing silicon were used in the experiment: Actisil, Herbagreen Z20 and Optysil. Each of them was applied once, twice and thrice. For each combination, the gross production value, the costs of foliar nutrition, the net production value and the profitability index were calculated. The total costs of silicon foliar application varied depending on the number of treatments and the applied product from 50 to 402 PLN/ha. The gross production value of sugar beet due to foliar nutrition with silicon increased by 1.3-22.9% for the research period, and the net production value by 5.5-19.0%. A large variation in the achieved financial results was observed in 2015, in which there were particularly unfavorable conditions for the growth and yield of sugar beet. In the more favorable year for growing sugar beet (2016), the difference was smaller. The largest increase in the gross and net production value of sugar beet was ensured by the double and triple application of Actisil fertilizer and the triple application of the Optysil growth stimulator. However, the largest profitability indicator (11.26) was characterized by a single Optysil growth stimulator application.