The absorption of nutrients by the plant during the growing season is uneven. As the phenological phases proceed, the need for a certain ratio of nutrients changes, which means that at each of the critical stages of growth, the plant requires its own specific dosages of macro, meso and microelements.
Potatoes are extremely demanding on growing conditions, especially on mineral nutrition. And this is primarily due to the high demand for minerals, which are used in the formation of the entire volume of biomass. The assimilation of a large amount of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium and a significant increase in dry matter cause the active work of all biochemical processes in plants. And to maintain the functioning of these processes at the proper level, potatoes need a certain amount of trace elements.
One of the solutions to the problem of providing plants with the necessary dosages of microelements is the introduction of these microelements in the form of pure salts with foliar feeding. However, this measure is associated with many technical difficulties caused by the physicochemical properties of the resulting solutions (ion antagonism, incompatibility with other drugs, the appearance of a precipitate, a decrease in biological effectiveness). Taking this into account, it is easier and more profitable to use ready-made preparations based on microelements, specially designed for foliar feeding.
Difficult choice
Now on the market there is a wide range of drugs with completely different contents and ratios of microelements. A significant part of these funds are universal and do not focus on the needs of each specific culture in exact dosages of microelements. Also, the question of calculating the necessary dosages of microelements for the planned yield remains open, taking into account the provision of plants with the necessary macro- and mesoelements, and the presence of a sufficient amount of moisture.
An innovative approach
The specialists of the company "Bion" have developed recommendations for the phase-by-phase nutrition of potatoes with a certain set of microelements. The calculations were based on the requirements of potatoes for microelements at the established critical stage of growth, taking into account the change in the dynamics of consumption as the ontogenesis of potatoes proceeds. The indicators of the planned yield were also taken into account (including data on the availability of available moisture and the supply of plants with macro- (NPK) and meso- (MgSCa) elements).
Thus, the Bion-Intellect Potato leaf feeding system appeared (Fig. 1). This is a set of liquid preparations containing six basic trace elements (Zn, Mo, Cu, Mn, B, Fe) in chelated form, as well as a fulvate-humate complex and a set of amino acids. For potatoes, six critical points of application were identified (Fig. 2), and a specific preparation with a unique ratio of microelements was created for each stage of growth.
It is known that in different soil and climatic conditions, plants have different yield potential, taking this into account, the quantitative dosages of preparations are also adjusted. The rates of application of all preparations of the "Bion-Intellect Potato" food system change according to the given yield indicator (in the range from 300 to 800 c / ha), for this a special table has been developed.
Theory backed by practice
The scientific approach to building a nutritional system allows not only more efficient use of existing fertilizer resources, but also by optimizing nutritional schemes to increase the economic return from each hectare. This result was achieved during two years of work (2019-2020) at the farm of Agro Ramon LLC in the Ramonsky district of the Voronezh region. The farm grows potatoes on irrigation, every year it conducts an agrochemical analysis of the soil, on the basis of which the nutrition system is built and the necessary dosages of fertilizers are calculated. Bion specialists, together with farm agronomists, analyzed the results of an agrochemical survey of fields for potatoes, developed nutrition systems for the planned yield, selected optimal dosages and forms of mineral fertilizers, and also tested the Bion-Intellect Potatoes microelement leaf nutrition program.
The feeding scheme of one of the fields in 2020 looked like this: in the pre-sowing application, about 230 kg / ha of fertilizer mixture NPK 14-40-7 + Zn (0,8%) and 465 kg / ha of potassium chloride were used; then when sowing - 620 kg / ha of fertilizer mixture NPKS 8-20-30-2. During the season, six additional fertilizing was carried out using a pivot-type irrigation system, thus a total of 343 kg / ha UAN-32 and 93 kg / ha of ammonium sulfate were applied. Such a feeding scheme made it possible to obtain a control yield at the level of 408,1 c / ha (after calibration).
Carrying out six foliar dressings "Bion-Intellect Potatoes" throughout the growing season increased this yield to 448,1 c / ha (after calibration). Due to additional nutrition throughout the growing season, an increased increase in dry matter was noted, which was recorded during intermediate sampling (Fig. 3). With a potato cost of 10 rubles / kg, the economic increase from an additional 40,1 c / ha was about 40 rubles, a profitability of 100%, which fully paid off the additional costs incurred for leaf nutrition.
Maximum optimization of the potato nutrition system allows you to fully realize the genetic potential of the crop yield. The use of foliar dressing is an integral part of the intensive cultivation technology, and the introduction of a balanced and well-grounded set of microelements increases the efficiency of the main mineral nutrition, the plant is provided with substances that are deficient for it, the final yield per hectare increases and reduces losses from storage by improving the quality of the resulting crop.
LLC "HimAgro"
350059, Krasnodar region, Krasnodar, st. Melangevaya, 10, office 208
Tel: 8 (861) 298-55-55 / 8 (800) 301 77 27
Email: info@ximagro.com