The First Foliar Feeding of Winter Cereals in Spring 2019

Winter cereals have great importance for the national economy as crops that ensure food security and have high export potential, so the technology of caring for these crops must take plant needs in the course of ontogeny into account as fully as possible. A particularly important period is from the resumption of vegetation to the start of stem elongation.

The winter of 2018–2019 was relatively warm with sufficient snow cover in most regions of Ukraine. Moreover, the soil under the snow practically did not freeze, which positively affected both the development of winter cereal plants and of disease agents. The weather of the first ten days of March and the forecast for the coming days do not promise a full early resumption of vegetation, and insufficiently warmed soil «promises» problems for plants in phosphorus nutrition. Given this, in our opinion the first foliar feeding should be done with special fertilizers containing phosphorus in the form of phosphite. It is also important to note that a certain percentage of winter cereal areas was sown after sunflower grown under systems using long-acting herbicide protection. Under certain conditions, especially with moisture shortage, residual amounts of these herbicides can suppress winter cereal plants. At this time cereals form important yield components, so the yield level depends on the conditions in which these processes take place. In this regard, telling are the production trial results in Kirovohrad region carried out and recorded by employees of Ahrotok LLC (table 1, photos 1–2).

Table 1. Interim assessment results on wheat crops grown after Clearfield sunflower

(Novyi Starodub village, Petrivske district, Kirovohrad region)

Plant measurements and weighing convincingly show faster recovery from stress in plants fed by foliar application with phosphites with amino acids (compared with the unfed control).

Photo 1. Plants 20 days after foliar feeding (09.04.2018) Photo 2. Crops 20 days after foliar feeding (09.04.2018)

Thus foliar application of phosphorus in the form of phosphite and its combination with L-α amino acids, which plants take up quickly, promotes intensive growth of the root system, restrains the development of disease agents and enhances the efficiency of photosynthesis, ultimately raising the yield level.

For spring 2019, considering the weather conditions and the state of plant development, the forecast spread of diseases on winter cereals, and taking into account the results of practical use last year, we recommend:

1. On crops where plant condition is generally satisfactory and there are no signs of stress, carry out the first foliar feeding with Ecoline Phosphite (K) at 1.0–1.5 l/ha.
2. On areas where a deficiency of individual nutrients is found, feed with the tank mix Ecoline Phosphite (K) 1.0–1.5 l/ha + Ecoline Cereal (Chelates) or Ecoline Magnesium (Chelates) 1.0–1.5 l/ha. In case of copper, manganese, zinc or iron deficiency, use chelate fertilizers with the maximum content of the needed element at doses from 0.5 to 1.5 l/ha.

3. On areas with poorly developed plants and those in a state of stress, it is better to use Ecoline Phosphite (K-Amino) at 1.0–1.5 l/ha or Gros Rootgrowth at 1.5 l/ha for the first feeding.