Magazine. August 2020
Pre-sowing seed treatment is the first stage of work aimed at increasing yields, as well as agronomic techniques, which provide the young plant with everything it needs in conditions of unfavorable temperature and humidity. Treatment with special fertilizers of winter cereals seeds is an extremely responsible measure that affects the growth and development of plants in autumn, when there is a shortage of growth resources - moisture and warmth. The application of trace elements and other biologically active substances on the seed surface is the most effective way to apply them. It is this treatment that provides the plant with the most important macro- and microelements in the period from germination to the transition to nutrition from its own root system. Treatment of seeds with special fertilizers significantly helps plants to withstand adverse weather conditions and preserve yield potential.
The time of preparation of winter cereals seeds for sowing is approaching. Right now agronomists have a question, what fertilizers for seed processing to choose. First of all, the agronomist identifies a set of problems that may arise during the autumn growing season and overwintering. Choosing special fertilizers and pesticides that can solve them is the agronomist's next step, because you need to protect the plant from the most harmful objects and conditions within a particular farm or crop.
Today on the market there are fertilizers that are different in composition and effect on the plant. When choosing a fertilizer for pre-sowing seed treatment one should take into account the potential of the variety or hybrid, seed characteristics, predecessor and time of sowing - optimal or late for a particular area.
Important from the point of view of the effectiveness of such compositions is the form of the elements and the content of biologically active substances. The presence of phosphorus in the form of phosphite significantly increases the resistance of plants to fungal diseases. The use of biologically active compounds accelerates the growth and development of plants, promotes the accumulation of sugars for successful overwintering.
All fertilizers on the market that are recommended for pre-sowing seed treatment can be divided into three groups.
The first group: fertilizers containing a set of macro - and micronutrients (for example, ECOLINE Cereals (Chelates)). Their task is to provide young plants with individual nutrients in the period from germination to the transition to nutrition from their own root system. Such compositions work well with minimal protection and fertilizing. When choosing such products, one should take into account the composition, namely the presence of critical elements for the growth and development of plants, in particular zinc and manganese. Zinc together with nitrogen accelerates the synthesis of auxins in the plant and stimulates a fuller use by the plant of spare substances of the seed itself. Manganese promotes better absorption of nitrogen from the soil and the accumulation of sugars and thus ensures the successful overwintering under conditions of sharp temperature fluctuations in the autumn.
As for the form in which the nutrients are in such fertilizers, chelates provide higher efficiency.
The second group: fertilizers with phosphorus in the form of phosphite. Such compositions for pre-sowing seed treatment have proven themselves very well in production conditions (for example, ECOLINE Phosphite (K)). They cannot replace the fungicides, but significantly improve the protection of seedlings from pathogens. This group of fertilizers stimulates the development of the root system, which in arid autumn conditions gives the plant the opportunity to extract moisture from the deeper layers of the soil. Seed treatment with phosphite fertilizers is already widely used in agriculture in our country. Due to their properties, phosphites are effective in all natural and climatic zones of Ukraine.
The third group: special fertilizers based on complexes of macro- and microelements in combination with biologically active substances. The latter are usually synthesized by the plants themselves. However, due to weather conditions or other stressors, this process in plants slows down and they lag behind in growth and development. This lag has a negative effect on plants during the winter. It has been scientifically established that plants are able to assimilate biologically active substances of exogenous (external) origin. For the treatment of seeds that will be sown later than the optimal time, not after the best predecessors or in adverse weather conditions, it is necessary to choose such compositions.
ECOORGANIC LLC is one of the leading national producers of special fertilizers. Among them, the compositions with biologically active substances - amino acids and phytohormones are the most effective.
Amino acids are derivatives of carboxylic acids in which one or more hydrogen atoms are replaced by an amino group in a hydrocarbon radical. In the process of ontogenesis, plants independently synthesize all the necessary amino acids, which are the building blocks for more complex substances. Inhibition of amino acid synthesis due to the manifestation of certain stress factors is a negative reaction that inhibits or temporarily stops the growth and development of plants. In such cases, the entry of free amino acids into the plant from the outside improves their condition.
Phytohormones are organic compounds of various chemical nature, produced by specialized tissues of higher plants. Phytohormones are an important component of the systems of regulation of ontogenesis of higher plants. They have a regulatory effect on the processes of ontogenesis, plant growth and development. These compounds are concentrated mainly in actively growing tissues, in the areas of the apexes of roots and stems. Foliar application of phytohormones in crop production is an effective measure that increases crop yields.
Since 2017, ECOORGANIC has been offering the GROS Rootgrowth composition on the Ukrainian market, which is extremely effective for pre-sowing treatment of seeds of various crops, including winter cereals. Successfully selected composition and forms of active ingredients (amino acids and phosphorus in the form of phosphite) enhance the growth energy of seedlings and young plants, and the ratio of auxins and cytokinins intensifies the division of meristematic tissue cells. Seed treatment before sowing with GROS Rootgrowth affects the plant as follows:
1) provides faster growth of the root system and the formation of a powerful aboveground mass;
2) increases resistance to pathogens;
3) forms a higher content of dry matter, in particular sugars, necessary for successful overwintering of plants.
ECOORGANIC has developed and tested several schemes of application of special fertilizers for pre-sowing treatment of winter cereals seeds:
Supporting scheme: ECOLINE Cereal (Chelates) 0.5-1.0 l / t (to optimize plant nutrition in the initial stages of development on poor soils with minimal fertilization).
Basic scheme: ECOLINE Cereal (Chelates) 1.0 l / t + ECOLINE Phosphite (K) 0.5 l / t (to optimize plant nutrition in the early stages of development and increase resistance to pathogens).
Intensive scheme: GROS Rootgrowth 1.0-1.5 l / t or GROS Rootgrowth 1.0 l / t + ECOLINE Phosphite (K) 0.5 l / t (to achieve simultaneous germination at late sowing, accelerate plant growth and development, increase resistance to pathogens).
The effectiveness of such compositions is illustrated on the photos.
Winter wheat. К – check, 1 – seed treatment with GROS Rootgrowth 1,0 l/t, 2 – seed treatment with GROS Rootgrowth 1,5 l/t. Farm Glevakha, Vasylkiv distr., Kyiv region, 2019
Winter barley. К – check (farm’s choice), 1 – seed treatment with ECOLINE Universal Seeds (Chelates) 0,5 l/t (analogue of ECOLINE Cereal (Chelates)) + GROS Rootgrowth 1,0 l/t. Farm Zolota Rybka, Pervomaysk, Mykolaiv region, 2019
Winter wheat. К – check, 1 – seed treatment with GROS Rootgrowth 1,5 l/t. Lab trial. Kyiv, May 2020