Vegetative Mass Research Articles

Spatiotemporal variation of chasmogamy and cleistogamy in a native perennial grass: fecundity, reproductive allocation and allometry.

It is difficult to assess the relative variability or stability of chasmogamous (CH) and cleistogamous (CL) reproduction in perennial herbs with mixed mating because long-term data in natural populations are unavailable. Here, the aim was to quantify and compare spatial (between-habitat) and temporal (among-year) variation in CH and CL reproduction over 5 years in two subpopulations of the native perennial grass Danthonia compressa. This species produces CH spikelets on terminal panicles in early summer, while axillary CL spikelets, including a basal cleistogene, mature into the autumn. Flowering tillers were collected from a sunny woodland edge and an adjacent shady interior habitat for 5 consecutive years (2017-21). Seed set, fecundity, seed mass and biomass allocation were recorded for the two floral types along with tiller vegetative mass. Bivariate line fitting was used for allometric analysis of CH and CL fecundity. Seed set, fecundity, mass per seed and allocation to seeds differed between floral types and showed significant variation between habitats and among years. Seed set and fecundity in CH panicles were greater than that of axillary CL panicles in most years. Tiller mass positively affected axillary CL seed production and mass of the basal cleistogene. Fecundity and allocation among years were more variable for CH compared to CL reproduction. High seed set and fecundity of CH spikelets suggest that pollination does not limit reproduction via chasmogamy. Late maturation of axillary CL spikelets provides additional fecundity, especially in larger plants along sunny woodland edges. The heavy cleistogene at the tiller base could be important to population persistence, analogous to the axillary bud bank of other perennial grasses that are not cleistogamous. The spatiotemporal stability of CL reproduction underscores the ecological significance of cleistogamy to reproductive fitness.

Іnfluence of crop pollution on development i maize productivity

Goal. To study the reserves of weed seeds in the soil and to determine the influence of weediness of crops on the development and productivity of corn.
 Methods. Informational and analytical (collection of materials and analysis of literary sources), field and laboratory research (setting up experiments, soil analysis, monitoring plant development, determination of biometric indicators, accounting for the number of weeds, collection and determination of crop structure), mathematical and statistical (processing of research results). The design of the field experiment included weeded and weed-protected plots.
 Results. In the forest-steppe zone of Ukraine, with intensive corn cultivation technology, the average number of weeds in the soil from emergence to row closure was at the level of 250—425 weeds/m2. Determining the number and species composition of segetal vegetation made it possible to establish that the corn crops are dominated by a mixed type of weediness with the dominance of annual dicotyledonous and grassy weeds. The number of dominant weeds at the beginning of the corn growing season in the experimental plots of NUBiP (Kyiv) was: Chenopodium album L. — 16 pcs./ m2, Amaranthus retroflexus L. — 23 pcs./m2, Portulaca oleracea L. — 78 pcs./ m2. In the fields of the agricultural station (Fastivskyi district), the dominant weeds were Polygonum convolvulus L., Setaria glauca L., Chenopodium album L., the number of which in the phase of 4—5 leaves was 32, 20 and 10 pcs./m2, respectively. Weeds significantly limited the growth of corn both in terms of plant height and development phases. In the phase of 9—10 leaves of corn in the weeded area, some types of weeds reached the height of the corn, accumulated a significant vegetative mass and began to form reproductive organs. The above-ground mass of weeds at the beginning of grain formation reached 995 g/m2. The pollution of the crops significantly affected the reduction of the corn yield and its structure.
 Conclusions. Significant reserves of weed seeds in corn crops cause the development of segetal vegetation during its growing season. The high competitiveness of weeds was manifested in the suppression of the growth and development of the culture and the formation of the crop. Weeds form a significant vegetative mass and reproductive organs at the beginning of the development of the corn grain. On weedy crops, the yield of corn decreased by an average of 32—35%.

Growth, development and nitrogen nutrition of colored cotton cv. BRS Topázio under sustainably-constructed soil

Agroecological practices such as seed inoculation with diazotrophic bacteria and biofertilizers use have contributed to the development of sustainable agriculture. Therefore, this work aimed to study the effect of biofertilizers and the bacterium Azospirillum brasilense on the growth, development, and mineral nutrition of colored cotton cv. BRS Topázio. Thus, we conducted an experiment with the following treatments: 1) control; 2) inoculation of cotton seeds with nitrogen-fixing bacterium A. brasilense (Nfixed); 3) treatment of seeds with biofertilizer (Bio) + subsequent applications; 4) (Nfixed) + subsequent applications of Bio; and 5) mineral fertilization. The results showed that agroecological practices increase plant growth; the root:aerial ratio increases with conventional agricultural practices such as mineral fertilization, which also provides a lower reproductive mass:vegetative mass ratio of the aerial parts; plants fertilized with mineral sources concentrate more nitrogen (N), crude protein, magnesium (Mg), and sulfur (S) in their tissues; plants from seeds inoculated with A. brasilense accumulated more S when they received anaerobic biofertilizer compared with those that did not receive it; and agroecological practices improve soil fertility.

Towards an ensemble-based evaluation of land surface models in light of uncertain forcings and observations

Abstract. Quantification of uncertainty in fluxes of energy, water, and CO2 simulated by land surface models (LSMs) remains a challenge. LSMs are typically driven with, and tuned for, a specified meteorological forcing data set and a specified set of geophysical fields. Here, using two data sets each for meteorological forcing and land cover representation (in which the increase in crop area over the historical period is implemented in the same way), as well as two model structures (with and without coupling of carbon and nitrogen cycles), the uncertainty in simulated results over the historical period is quantified for the Canadian Land Surface Scheme Including Biogeochemical Cycles (CLASSIC) model. The resulting eight (2×2×2) model simulations are evaluated using an in-house model evaluation framework that uses multiple observation-based data sets for a range of quantities. The simulated area burned, fire CO2 emissions, soil carbon mass, vegetation carbon mass, runoff, heterotrophic respiration, gross primary productivity, and sensible heat flux show the largest spread across the eight simulations relative to their global ensemble mean values. Simulated net atmosphere–land CO2 flux, a critical determinant of the performance of LSMs, is found to be largely independent of the simulated pre-industrial vegetation and soil carbon mass, although our framework represents the historical increase in crop area in the same way in both land cover representations. This indicates that models can provide reliable estimates of the strength of the land carbon sink despite some biases in carbon stocks. Results show that evaluating an ensemble of model results against multiple observations disentangles model deficiencies from uncertainties in model inputs, observation-based data, and model configuration.

The spatial arrangement of sexes is related to reproductive allocation in mosses: a comparative study of reproductive allocation in three different monoicous sexual systems.

We examined the relationship between reproductive allocation and vegetative growth in three monoicous sexual systems of bryophytes. The sexual systems show a gradient of increasing distance between the sexes, from gonioautoicous to cladautoicous to rhizautoicous. Here, we investigated the following two hypotheses: (1) reproductive allocation differs between sexes and sexual systems, and male reproductive allocation increases with increasing distance between male and female gametangia; and (2) reproductive allocation is negatively related to vegetative growth. We sampled the three sexual systems, represented by three moss species of the genus Fissidens in the Atlantic Forest of Southeastern Brazil. Ramets were washed in the laboratory; the reproductive structures were detached from the vegetative ramets and sorted regarding sex and individual, dried at 70 °C for 72 h, and weighed in an ultramicrobalance. We calculated the mean reproductive and vegetative mass and reproductive allocation and used generalized linear models to test our predictions. Reproductive allocation differed between species and sexes. It was higher in the rhizautoicous than in the cladautoicous and gonioautoicous species. Mean reproductive allocation was greater in males than in females of the rhizautoicous species, greater in females than males of the cladautoicous species, and did not differ between the sexes in the gonioautoicous species. Estimates of reproductive and vegetative mass were positively related in females of the rhizautoicous species. Vegetative mass was not related to reproductive allocation in the gonioautoicous species, but negatively related to reproductive allocation in the male and female branchlets of the cladautoicous species and in the female ramets of the rhizautoicous species. The reproductive allocation patterns differ between the rhizautoicous species and the 'truly' monoicous species, with shorter intersexual distances, which implies that our hypotheses were supported only in part. We suggest that the hypotheses should be reformulated and tested further by comparing 'truly' monoicous species with dioicous species and by including other genera.

Chemical Defoliation in the Vine Nursery

The trial was carried out in the period 2017-2020 in a vine nursery located on slightly leached chernozem. The objective of the study was to investigate the opportunities of applying the contact foliar herbicides Basta 15 SL (150 g/l glufosinate-ammonium) and Diqua 20 SL (200 g/l diquat) as defoliants, immediately before removing the vines from the nursery (the second half of October). Their effect on the above-ground vegetative mass of the grafted rooted vines of the varieties Muscat Plevenski, Bolgar, Naslada and Storgozia was established. The herbicides were applied in different doses, once and twice at the end of the growing season with work solution of 50 l/da. The strongest defoliating effect in all varieties was reported after treatment with Diqua 20 SL at a dose of 0.6 l/da and the combination of Basta + Diqua (0.3 + 0.33 l/da) with two applications, but in case it was not possible the second treatment to be performed, a satisfactory result might be achieved with a single application of the herbicides no later than 15 days before removing the vines from the nursery. To prove the vines’ capacity for development during the next growing season, the status of their buds after the treatment with the tested herbicides was determined. No negative vines’ response caused by this type of defoliation was found.

Analysis of the Potato Vegetation Stages Based on the Dynamics of Water Consumption in the Closed Urban Vertical Farm with Automated Microclimate Control

One of the promising trends in modern agronomy is the development of automated closed urban vertical farms with controlled environmental conditions, which can improve dynamics of the crop vegetation process. In the frame of this work, the analysis of the vegetative stages of potato seed material (minitubers and microplants) grown in the conditions of the automated vertical farm was conducted. The study was performed at the vertical farm of the Federal Research Center “Fundamentals of Biotechnology” of the Russian Academy of Sciences by the analysis of water consumption dynamics. It was established that the 20-day reduction in the vegetative period of the vertical-farm-grown potatoes in comparison with the field-grown ones occurred due to the reduction in the final stage of vegetation (mass gain of newly formed tubers) under the minitubers planting. The same reduction occurred due to both final and initial vegetative stage (absence of tubers germination) under the planting of microplants. The obtained result shed new light on the vegetation dynamics of potato grown under controlled conditions of the urban vertical farms and demonstrated a possibility to perform the study of plant development process using automated diagnostics systems of vertical farms.

Biological efficiency of gibberellic acid application in the technology of spring rapeseed cultivation in the conditions of the Ryazan region

The article presents the results of studies of the biological effectiveness of gibberelinic acid in the technology of cultivation of spring rapeseed, conducted in the conditions in 2019–2021. The purpose of the research is to identify the effect of gibberellic acid (GC) on the yield and quality of spring rapeseed oil seeds in the conditions of the forest-steppe zone of the Ryazan region. A clear advantage in the safety and overall survival of rapeseed plants for harvesting with the use of GC was revealed. It was found that the use of GC affected the date of the onset of the phenophases of the culture in the moistened year, reducing the growing season by 3 days. In a dry year, with a low vegetative mass, it did not have a significant effect. The use of GC had a positive effect on the structure of the spring rapeseed crop. The number of branches of the 1st order increased with the use of GC growth by 21,2-42,8 %, the number of pods by 5,9-25,0 %, the number of seeds from one pod by 8,3-52,2 %, the mass of seeds from the 1st plant by 20,6-28,0 %, the number of seeds from the 1st plant by 14,7-18,8 %, the mass of a thousand seeds by 5,5-17,5 %. The yield of oilseeds after the use of GC increased by 26,7-29,1 %. Processing of GC crops provided a reliable increase in yield by 2,6-3,2 c/ha, compared with the control in all years of research. The oil content of the seeds did not have a significant deviation from the control.

Assessing the sensitivity of multi-frequency passive microwave vegetation optical depth to vegetation properties

Abstract. Vegetation attenuates the microwave emission from the land surface. The strength of this attenuation is quantified in models in terms of the parameter vegetation optical depth (VOD) and is influenced by the vegetation mass, structure, water content, and observation wavelength. Earth observation satellite sensors operating in the microwave frequencies are used for global VOD retrievals, enabling the monitoring of vegetation at large scales. VOD has been used to determine above-ground biomass, monitor phenology, or estimate vegetation water status. VOD can be also used for constraining land surface models or modelling wildfires at large scales. Several VOD products exist, differing by frequency/wavelength, sensor, and retrieval algorithm. Numerous studies present correlations or empirical functions between different VOD datasets and vegetation variables such as the normalized difference vegetation index, leaf area index, gross primary production, biomass, vegetation height, or vegetation water content. However, an assessment of the joint impact of land cover, vegetation biomass, leaf area, and moisture status on the VOD signal is challenging and has not yet been done. This study aims to interpret the VOD signal as a multi-variate function of several descriptive vegetation variables. The results will help to select VOD at the most suitable wavelength for specific applications and can guide the development of appropriate observation operators to integrate VOD with large-scale land surface models. Here we use VOD from the Land Parameter Retrieval Model (LPRM) in the Ku, X, and C bands from the harmonized Vegetation Optical Depth Climate Archive (VODCA) dataset and L-band VOD derived from Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) and Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) sensors. The leaf area index, live-fuel moisture content, above-ground biomass, and land cover are able to explain up to 93 % and 95 % of the variance (Nash–Sutcliffe model efficiency coefficient) in 8-daily and monthly VOD within a multi-variable random forest regression. Thereby, the regression reproduces spatial patterns of L-band VOD and spatial and temporal patterns of Ku-, X-, and C-band VOD. Analyses of accumulated local effects demonstrate that Ku-, X-, and C-band VOD are mostly sensitive to the leaf area index, and L-band VOD is most sensitive to above-ground biomass. However, for all VODs the global relationships with vegetation properties are non-monotonic and complex and differ with land cover type. This indicates that the use of simple global regressions to estimate single vegetation properties (e.g. above-ground biomass) from VOD is over-simplistic.

‘Embowered in a mass of vegetation’: Confinement and Predatory Plants in Fin-de-Siècle Fiction

In our present moment of ecological crises, stories about nature fighting back take on new significance. This article looks back at fin-de-siècle stories about predatory plants that entrap people, examining texts such as Edmond Nolcini's ‘The Guardian of Mystery Island’ (1896), H.G. Wells’ ‘The Flowering of the Strange Orchid’ (1894), and Lucy H. Hooper's ‘Carnivorine’ (1889). These stories focus on killer plants that grab and confine characters with their tentacle-like branches and vines, ultimately suffocating them in their foliage. Like other gothic monsters, these plants reveal societal anxieties (colonialism, women, degeneration, and so on) at moments of transition. Given our twenty-first-century anxieties about environmental destruction, we need to look back at ecophobic moments in earlier literature to understand, as Simon C. Estok argues in ‘Theorizing the EcoGothic’, ‘how monstrosity is central to an environmental imagination that locates the human as the center of all things good and safe’ (34). Ideally, this historical interrogation can help us transition to new and healthier relationships with our environments in the present.

Formation of winter wheat productivity using adaptive growing technologies

Аіm. To establish the peculiarities of the formation of productivity of winter wheat under adaptive cultivation technologies. Methods. The research was carried out in the right-bank forest-steppe on the basis of long-term experiments of the department of technology of grain ear crops located within the experimental field of the National Research Center «Institute of Agriculture of the National Academy of Sciences» (Fastiv district, Kyiv region). Field and laboratory methods, mathematical and statistical analysis were used to conduct research. Results. According to the results of plant diagnostics, an assessment of the provision of nutrients at the main stages of organogenesis of winter wheat under adaptive cultivation technologies was made. It was found that winter wheat of the Kraevyd variety, which was grown using alternative technology, was supplied with basic nutrients below the optimum during the growing season. Under resource-saving technologies, a lack of nutrients was observed in the second half of the growing season. The optimal and closest to the optimal supply of plants with nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium was during the growing season under intensive energy-rich growing technologies. Values, directionality and optimal parameters of accumulation of vegetative and dry mass by plants during their cultivation using technologies of different intensity are determined, and their relationship with productivity is shown. The accumulation of dry matter by crops of winter wheat during the growing season was closely correlated with the yield of this crop. There was a tendency to increase the closeness of the connection, which increased from the VI to the IX stage of organogenesis. Conclusions. It was established that, on average, for 2016–2020, the highest productivity of sowing winter wheat of the Kraevyd variety, 8.93 t/ha of the 1–2 quality class, was obtained under the intensive energy-rich technology, which involved the introduction of P80K100 + N80ІІ + N100IV + N60VII against the background of the introduction of by-products predecessor and integrated plant protection.

ФОРМУВАННЯ ПРОДУКТИВНОСТІ КВАСОЛІ ЗВИЧАЙНОЇ ЗАЛЕЖНО ВІД СОРТІВ, ІНОКУЛЯЦІЇ ТА УДОБРЕННЯ

Ріст і розвиток рослин квасолі прямо залежить від умов навколишнього середовища, основними складниками якого є температура повітря та ґрунту, освітленість, вологість, мінеральне живлення. Продуктивність рослин зумовлюється наявністю цих факторів, і чим більше вони відповідають біологічним особливостям культури, тим повніше реалізуються потенційні можливості сортів квасолі. Під час дослідження насіння квасолі звичайної перед сівбою обробляли різними штамами мікроорганізмів. Залежно від цього дещо змінювалися міжфазні періоди росту й розвитку рослин. Тривалість періоду «сівба – повна стиглість» у рослин квасолі сорту Ластівка, інокульованих різними штамами Rhizobium phaseoli, у середньому за період дослідження 2020–2022 рр. відрізнялася на 1–3 доби.

ОСОБЛИВОСТІ РОСТУ ТА РОЗВИТКУ СОРТІВ НУТУ ЗВИЧАЙНОГО ЗАЛЕЖНО ВІД ВНЕСЕННЯ МАКРО- Й МІКРОДОБРИВ

Встановлено, що за проведення позакореневого підживлення мікродобривами у фазі інтенсивного росту й розвитку рослин та, можливо, на початку бутонізації на тлі передпосівного внесення мінеральних добрив тривалість міжфазного періоду нуту від повних сходів до повної стиглості зерна коливалася в межах 89–95 діб, або збільшилася на 4–6 діб порівняно з контролем за нерівномірного вологозабезпечення та зміни температурного режиму в період вегетації. Таким чином, позакореневе внесення бору та молібдену підвищувало енергію проростання насіння нуту і його схожість, а також сприяло збереженню рослин у комплексі з позакореневим підживленням упродовж усього періоду вегетації порівняно з контролем без передпосівного внесення мінеральних добрив.

The content of heavy metals in the vegetative mass of pumpkin plants when applied by the sprinkling method

Obtaining high yields of agricultural plants with their proper quality on soils contaminated with heavy metals is of the utmost importance for modern farmers of the Kuban. The purpose of the research is to study the accumulation of heavy metals in the vegetative organs of pumpkin plants, depending on the properties of the soil and the physical and chemical properties of pollutants. The tasks are to determine the influence of the physical and chemical properties of the soil on the accumulation of heavy metals in the vegetative part of the studied plants; to determine the influence of the chemical properties of heavy metals on their accumulation in the vegetative part of the studied plants. By the method of field research, the accumulation of heavy metals in the vegetative mass of pumpkin, Mramornaya variety, when applied by sprinkling method, depending on the physico-chemical properties of the soil, has been studied. Heavy metals in plants are determined by the AAS method. It has been found that when growing the studied plant on a rain-fed plot of meadow-chernozem soil, copper and cadmium accumulated in the foliage less than in the soil of rice check, respectively 2.2 and 4.9 times. The studied heavy metals had a depressing effect on the biometric parameters of the pumpkin. On the experimental plots of meadow-chernozem soil of the bogarny plot and the soil of the rice check, there was a decrease in the studied biometric parameters compared with the control. Moreover, on the meadow-chernozem soil of the rice check, this decrease was more intense. Under the influence of heavy metals and soil properties, the yield of the studied plant decreased: for the first variant it was 24.0 t/ha, for the second – 8.2 t/ha. When growing Mramornaya pumpkin variety on meadow-chernozem soil, a rain-fed area of cadmium accumulated more than copper by 16.0 times, on meadow-chernozem soil of rice check, this difference was 47.0 times. One of the reasons for this difference in the accumulation of heavy metals is their physiological role for the plant under study.

Influence of soil herbicides on biometric indicators and yield of sunflower

The article has presented the results of field experiments and laboratory studies of the effectiveness of the use of soil herbicides of various chemical classes in sunflower agrophytocenosis. The effectiveness of the influence of the specified technological aspects on the processes of growth and development, as well as on the formation of quantitative and qualitative indicators of the sunflower harvest, has been established. The research results have confirmed more optimal conditions for the formation of vegetation mass, assimilation apparatus and the root system of sunflower against the background of the application of pre-emergence herbicides. For example, the height of the plants was greater by 2.9–4.5 cm, the length of the root system exceeded the benchmark by 6.1–10.0 cm, the area of the leaf surface — by 1.4–2.8 dm2. When determining such a fundamentally economic and valuable indicator, as seed roughness, а clear regularity of the effect of the use of soil herbicides on this indicator has not been found. The study of the influence of Harness, Dual Gold and Gezagard on the quality indicators of sunflower seeds has showed that the use of herbicides had had a positive effect on the process of oil accumulation. In addition to quality indicators, sunflower yield has been also determined. The yield of the sunflower hybrid Sonachny was 2.64 t/ha when using the herbicide Gezagard, while the yield in the control was 2.13 t/ha. Under the action of Harness and Dual Gold herbicides, the yield was at the level of 2.46–2.47 t/ha, which is 15.5% higher than the control.

STUDIES ON THE SPECIES PRIMULA OFFICINALIS HILL. FOR THEPURPOSE OF ESTABLISHING ECOLOGICAL CULTIVATION TECHNOLOGY

These researches were carried out in order to introduce the species Primula officinalis into the culture and to establish an ecological cultivation technology.
 The species Primula officinalis Hill., synonymous with Primula veris L., popularly known as cowslip, common cowslip or cowslip primrose, is a perennial, herbaceous species, being one of the 400 species of the Primula genus. In some countries from Europe, this species is on the verge of extinction, due to intensive harvesting from the spontaneous flora, grazing, deforestation and alpine herbicides. In Romania, Primula grows spontaneously, starting from the lowlands, on hills, pastures, alpine meadows, up to approximately 2300 - 2400 m altitude. It is known in folk medicine as having multiple phytotherapeutic uses. Primula has been used since the Middle Ages for the treatment of gout, headaches, migraines. The saponins found in the rhizomes and flowers are used in the phytotherapeutic treatment of bronchitis and colds due to their expectorant effects. The paper presents results regarding the influence of the nutrition space on some elements of growth and development in the species Primula officinalis, with a determining role in the amount of vegetable mass obtained.

Reproductive effort assessment for woody plants using Siberian spruce and Siberian fir

The correlation between the yield of Siberian spruce (Picea obovata Ledeb.) and Siberian fir (Abies sibirica Ledeb.) cones and radial wood increments was examined using long-term data (47 years) from direct observations. Broad-leaved coniferous woods of the Ufa Plateau (PreUral), which are located inside the Ufa River's water protection zone, make up the special polygon where the research was conducted. According to the experiments, there was no correlation with the yield of cones and the radial increment of wood, either positive or negative. Simultaneously, it was discovered that there is a rise in the radial increment of timber wood with an increase in the number of spruce and fir cones in the climatic circumstances of a particular year. The maximum growth of the plant's vegetative mass, in this case, the radial growth of the timber wood, is shown in the year with the highest cone output. Consequently, fir and spruce in this area have the effect of reversing reproductive effort.

Хелатні комплекси мікроелементів кобальту, міді, марганцю, цинку як блокатори надходження радіонуклідів 90Sr, 137Cs в організм людини харчовим ланцюгом «ґрунт — рослина — тварина — людина»

The influence of chelated complexes of trace elements (Mn, Zn, Cu, Co) with ethylenediaminedisuccinic acid on reducing the accumulation of radionuclides 137Cs and 90Sr in plants and animals was studied. Foliar feeding of fodder plants (lupins, rapeseed, oats, clover, etc.) in the conditions of the Ukrainian Polissia on turf-podzolic soils contaminated with radionuclides, with aqueous solutions of complexonates of trace elements reduces the accumulation of 137Сs in the vegetative mass and grain by 1.6–2.8 times and 90Sr in 1.4–1.6 times. Compared with sulfates of microelements, complexonates have a much higher radio-blocking efficiency. Treatment of plants with microelement complexes increased the yield of vegetative mass and grain by 17–36 % and 16–38 %, respectively. At the same time, there is an improvement in their nutritional quality in plants, the content of some metabolites (crude protein, crude fat, crude fiber, sugars) increases by 30–35 %. Addition of zinc-manganese and cobalt-copper complexonates to the diet of cows in amounts compensating for the natural lack of trace elements led to a decrease in the accumulation of 90Sr and 137Cs in milk and meat by almost 2 times. At the same time, when using complexonates, an increase in the milk productivity of cows by 15–25 % and the content of fat, proteins, weighty components in the milk of cows, which characterize the quality of milk, by 2–3 % were noted. At the same time, some immune indicators of the animals increased: leukocytes — by 11 %, basophils — by 44 %, rod and segmented leukocytes — by 30 and 37 %, respectively, monocytes — by 43 %, which indicates an improvement in the state of their immune system. Probably, the effect of the use of complexonates is due to greater permeability of microelements through cell membranes and the ability to directly integrate into the molecular structures of enzymatic systems, bypassing many transport chains.

Іnfluence of long-term use of primary tillage systems on weed infestation of agrocenosis

Topicality. The study of the long-term use of different primary tillage systems will allow us to identify, and consequently predict, possible impacts on production from their use. Purpose. To study the impact of long-term use of different systems of primary tillage on weed infestation of fields. Methods. The research was conducted in a ten-field crop rotation of the stationary experiment in 1989–2000, five-field in 2001–2008, four-field in 2009–2016, and four-field in 2017–2022 at the Khmelnytskyi State Agricultural Experi- mental Station of the Institute of Feed Research and Agriculture of Podillia. In the first (1989–2000) and second (2001–2008) periods, seven systems of primary tillage were studied, including1) moldboard tillage for all crops; 2) chisel tillage for all crops; 3) combined system 1 – surface disking under winter crops after annual crops, moldboard tillage for sugar beet, chisel tillage for all other crops; 4) combined system 2 – surface disking for winter crops after annual crops, chisel tillage for sugar beet, moldboard tillage for all other crops; 5) subsurface tillage for all crops; 6) variable-depth ploughing for all crops; 7) surface tillage – surface disking for all crops. Five systems were studied in the third (2009–2016) and fourth (2017–2022) periods: 1) moldboard tillage for all crops; 2) chisel tillage for all crops; 3) subsurface tillage for all crops; 4) disk tillage for all crops; 5) minimum tillage – shallow disk tillage for all crops, and since 2020 – differentiated tillage, which includes moldboard and moldboardless tillage in crop rotation. The crop cultivation technology is generally accepted for the zone, with the exception of the studied variants of the primary tillage systems. Results. The results of studies of the impact of long-term use of different systems of primary tillage on the quantitative and species composition of the weed component of agrocenosis are presented. It was found that the most favourable phytosanitary condition for all crops was observed under the moldboard system, which resulted in the lowest weed infestation, the chisel system being the closest to it. In all moldboardless systems, the number of weeds was 38–110 % higher than in the moldboard system, their vegetative air-dry weight increased by 15–47 %, and the number of species increased by 6–31 %. Conclusions. As a result of long-term use of different systems of primary tillage, it was found that the best phytosanitary condition for all agrocenosis was in the moldboard system, which was characterised by the lowest number and weight of weeds, the closest to it was the chisel system. In general, the number of weeds in moldboardless systems was 38–110 % higher than in moldboard systems, their vegetative air-dry weight increased by 15–47 %, and the number of species increased by 12–29 %. During 33 years, the field agrocenosis was purified from weeds due to all systems of primary tillage with a decrease in the number of weeds by 53–71 %, their vegetative air-dry mass by 52–70 %, and the number of species by 33–58 %, with the simultaneous formation of a small group of resistant species that are present in agrocenosis permanently in all systems. Key words: moldboard tillage, chisel tillage, subsurface tillage, disking, weeds

Pasture phytocomplexes of Pridonye: Ecological situation

The purpose of the work is to establish the ecological situation in the pasture phytocomplexes of the Don basin. The objects of research were plant communities on floodplain sod-meadow granular soils and on the sands of the Ilovlinsky massif of the Volgograd region. The occurrence of species on the Drude scale, the vital state of plants, the projective cover of vegetation, and the feed mass consumed were determined. It is established that the main mass of vegetation is oppressed or is in a satisfactory condition. The dominant phytocomplexes are representatives of the Asteraceae families that are resistant to anthropogenic loads and lodging, with a wide ecological amplitude (30% on floodplain sod-meadow granular soils, 38% on sands) and Poaceae (13% on floodplain sod-meadow granular soils, 29% on sands). On floodplain sod-meadow granular soils with a projective vegetation cover of 45%, the feed mass of autumn pastures was 51.2 g/m2, on sands with an average projective vegetation cover of 21%, the feed mass was 24.4 g/m2.