The Effect of Mineral N Fertilization and Bradyrhizobium japonicum Seed Inoculation on Productivity of Soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merrill)

Soybean yields can be considerably improved by inoculation with selected Bradyrhizobium japonicum strains and fertilization. The aim of this study was to assess the productivity of two soybean cultivars depending on the applied N mineral fertilizers and seed inoculation with B. japonicum. The study showed that on average, for both cultivars, the soybean yield was most favorably affected by the combined use of inoculation and nitrogen fertilization (increase in seed yield by 42%, protein yield by about 28%). The application of mineral nitrogen at the dose of 30 or 60 kg·ha−1 allowed the increase in the seed yield by about 17% and protein content by about 14% compared to the control. Inoculation of soybean seeds with B. japonicum increased the yield of soybeans by about 20%, proteins by about 10% compared to the control, and inoculation of Hi®Stick Soy favored a better yield than Nitragina. Inoculation of seeds with Nitragina or Hi®Stick Soy and fertilization with mineral nitrogen increased the content of protein and fiber in seeds of both soybean cultivars, as well as reduced the amount of ash and fat. The seeds of cv. Aldana had a higher amount of protein and ash than cv. Annushka, but a similar amount of fat and fiber.

Effect on Integrated Nutrient Management on Productivity, Quality and Nutrient Uptake on Summer Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.)

A field experiment was conducted to study the effect of integrated nutrient management on productivity, quality and nutrient uptake in summer groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) during summer 2018 at Dantiwada, Gujarat. The treatment consisted of ten different integrated nutrient management treatments practices. The integration of inorganic fertilizers along with seed inoculation of biofertilizers viz., Rhizobium and phosphates solubilising bacteria (PSB) recorded significantly higher pod and haulm yield of summer groundnut as compared to rest of the treatments. Combined application of 75 % recommended dose of nitrogen (RDN) and 25 % RDN through vermicompost or farm yard manure (FYM) along with seed inoculation of Rhizobium and phosphates solubilising bacteria (PSB) recorded higher pod and haulm yield and also higher net returns and B- C ratio in summer groundnut.

The reaction of soybean varieties to the use of a biological product

Relevance. In the conditions of the Central Black Earth region in the farm “Yaroslav the Wise” of the Starooskolsky district of the Belgorod region, five soybean varieties (Belgorodskaya 48, Bara, Victoria, Opus and Kassidi) were studied on nutritional backgrounds — without seed inoculation and without biological treatment (control), using only inoculation and with the use of a biological product against the background of seed inoculation.Methods. The experimental conditions differed in rainfall patterns and the amount of heat, their distribution was especially uneven in 2020, that had a significant negative effect on the yield of all studied soybean varieties. The soil of the experimental plot is typical medium-thick chernozem, medium-humus, heavy loamy texture. The advantages of the soybean variety Opus, the plants of which formed a large height, air-dry mass, leaf area, a greater number and mass of nitrogen-fixing nodules on the roots, were revealed. Plants of this variety provided a higher yield level in all studied agro-backgrounds.Results. The yield varied from 32,5 centners per hectare (control) to 36,2 centners per hectare (when using the biological product Biogor, Zh). The content and collection of protein were also higher in the Opus cultivar in all the studied agrophones. In comparison with the control, the protein content was higher by 4% (background — control), by 4,9% — with inoculation of seeds and by 6,1% — when using a biological product. The same pattern is observed when assessing the oil content in seeds and collecting protein and oil per hectare of soybean sowing. Inoculation of seeds with soybean inoculant Nitragin, KM improved plant development and increased productivity, as well as the profitability of cultivation of the studied soybean varieties, which was higher when using a biological product against the background of seed inoculation by an average of 27%, while with only inoculation — by only 15,1%.

Weediness of oil flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) crops depending on the cultivation technologies and seed inoculation in the steppe Crimea

Weed control is one of the important issues that modern agriculture sets itself, especially in conditions of minimization of production. The purpose of the current study was to comparatively research the effect of direct sowing and the traditional cultivation technology of oil flax when treating seeds with a complex of microbial products on the weediness of agrophytocenosis. The study was carried out in the stationary trial of the FSBSI “Research Institute of agriculture in Crimea” in 2017-2019, in dry conditions of the steppe Crimean Peninsula, on southern low-humus blackearth (chernozem). Weediness of flax crops was estimated by a quantitative method with the determination of the varietal composition of weeds in the phase of full germination and before harvesting. In all variants, in the “herringbone” phase there was applied a tank mixture of herbicides Herbitox, VKR (MCPA 500 g/l) with a rate of 0.5 l/ha + Magnum, VDG (metsulfuron-methyl 600 g/kg) with a rate of 5 g/ha to fight against monocotyledonous and dicotyledonous weeds. There was found that for three years of study, the varietal composition of weeds differed insignificantly for both technologies, but their number under a direct sowing in the phase of full sprouting was in 1.6 times more than in the case with traditional technology. By the phase of full flax ripeness, the number of weeds decreased in 1.3 times using traditional technology and in 2.4 times under a direct sowing, and the difference between technologies was leveled. Seed inoculation had no significant effect on the weediness of the sowing. The conditions of the year had a significant effect on the weed component of the agrophytocenosis.

Realization of protective and symbiotic properties of soybeans using fungicide seed treatment

Aim. The elaboration of efficient legume-rhizobial symbiosis systems, involving active strains of nodule bacteria, in the combination with fungicide seed treatment may be an alternative method of providing ecologically friendly nitrogen sources to plants and promoting their tolerance to the external factors, which is relevant for preservation and restoration of envi- ronmental quality. Therefore, the aim of our study was to determine the impact of pre-sowing seed treatment with fungi- cides, which differ in the action spectrum of active substances – Standak Top (fipronil, 250 g/l, thiophanate-methyl, 225 g/l, pyraclostrobin, 25 g/l) and Maxim XL (fludioxonyl, 25 g/l, metalaxyl, 10 g/l), on the intensity of the development of lipid peroxidation processes, the activity of antioxidant enzyme ascorbate peroxidase and nitrogen fixation activity in soybeans on the early stages of forming legume-rhizobial symbiosis. Methods. Microbiological (cultivation of a bacterial culture, seed inoculation), physiological (vegetative experiment), biochemical (spectrophotometric determination of the content of lipid peroxidation products and the activity of ascorbate peroxidase; measuring the nitrogen-fixation activity using a gas chro- matography). Results. It was found that pre-sowing fungicide treatment of soybean seeds and subsequent inoculation with active rhizobia of strain 634b did not result in the change in the content of TBA-active products in roots and root nodules (the values of indices were within the experiment deviation). At the same time, after seed inoculation using rhizobia and treat- ment with Maxim XL, there was an increase in the activity of ascorbate peroxidase in the roots from 20.3 to 30.8 %, and with Standak Top – from 20.0 to 29.8 % during the early stages of ontogenesis till the formation of the third ternate leaf. Here, the activity of the enzyme in root nodules increased by 24.7–40.3 % at the fungicidal effect. Our data demonstrate that the combination of fungicide seed treatment and inoculation with active rhizobia does not induce lipid peroxidation processes, but promotes the initiation of protective antioxidant properties in soybeans. It is accompanied with efficient functioning of the symbiotic apparatus, which is manifested in the increase in nitrogen-fixing activity of nodule bacteria, formed by active rhizobia of strain 634b after the seed treatment with Standak Top – by 98.3 and 78.1 % and after Maxim XL – by 78.6 and 196.2 % respectively, during the stages of the second and third ternate leaves. Conclusions. The pre-sowing soybean seed treatment with fungicides Standak Top and Maxim XL and the subsequent inoculation with active rhizobia of strain 634b does not induce the development of lipid peroxidation processes, but increases the activity of the antioxidant enzyme, ascor- bate peroxidase, in the roots and root nodules, which is accompanied with the efficient work of the symbiotic apparatus on the early stages of determining legume-rhizobial symbiosis. This method of seed treatment may be a novel measure, to use in the technologies of cultivating soybeans to enhance the realization of the symbiotic potential and meet the needs of plants in ecologically friendly nitrogen, and to promote the formation of their tolerance to the corresponding cultivation conditions.

Morphometry and production of maize inoculated with Azospirillum brasilense

This study aimed to analyze the influence of inoculation methods with Azospirillum brasilense in morphometric and nutritional parameters of the maize crop. Maize plants, hybrid Formula VT®, were grown under different forms of inoculation: absence of inoculation; seed inoculation; leaf inoculation; seed inoculation associated to leaf inoculation. In the phenological stages V8 and VT the parameters number of leaves, aerial height, root volume, stem diameter, besides the leaves, stem, sheath, root and total dry mass and the leaf content of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium were determined. In the R6 stage, in addition to the previous evaluations the following parameters were determined: ear diameter and length, number of kernel rows, number of kernels per row, the reproductive structure and thousand grains dry mass, and total number of grains, besides the grain’s content of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. The SPAD index from the leave’s apex, medial and basal thirds was measured fortnightly. The inoculation methods with A. brasilense had little influence in maize’s morphometric and nutritional parameters, also not influencing in production. Maize plants inoculated with A. brasilense, via seed and via seed associated to leaf spraying, positively stood out for the stem diameter, leaves dry mas, root volume, and for the nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium leaf content.

SCREENING OF MODERN CHICKPEA VARIETIES BY RESPONSE TO BACTERIZATION

Objective. To screen modern varieties of chickpeas of Ukrainian selection by the response to bacterization, to identify varieties characterized by high increases in symbiotic activity and yield. Methods. Biotesting, gas-chromatographic, field experiment, statistical. Results. The response to bacterization of chickpea seeds of different varieties was studied in a field experiment in the southern region of Ukraine (Region of Odesa). As a result of inoculation of chickpea seeds with a bacterial suspension of an effective strain of Mesorhizobium ciceri ND-64, a significant increase in nodulation activity was registered. The highest increase in the number of nodules (51.6 % and 53 %) was reported for the varieties Odysei and Triumf. Upon seed inoculation with the studied strain, a significant increase in the weight of nodules of the Triumf variety (2.3 times) was shown. In the control variants, the nitrogenase activity in the nodules of Skarb variety plants was the highest (425 nmol C2H4/plant per hour), and in the Budzhak variety it was the lowest (159 nmol C2H4/plant per hour). Inoculation of seeds with bacterial suspension of M. ciceri ND-64 contributed to a significant increase in the studied parameter in the varieties Budzhak, Pamiat, Odysei and Triumf. The latter was characterized by the most significant response to inoculation with an effective strain in terms of nodulation and nitrogenase activity. Symbiotic parameters showed the weakest ability to respond to inoculation in terms of symbiotic parameters in Skarb variety. Pamiat variety was characterised by the maximum number of seeds per plant (18.5 units/plant). However, as a result of inoculation of chickpea seeds with M. ciceri ND-64, the number of seeds increased the most in the variety Skarb and amounted to 28.7 units/plant. In terms of seed weight, the Triumph variety was superior (9.5 g/plant). The yield of all studied varieties of chickpeas after bacterization of seeds with M. ciceri ND-64 significantly exceeded the control variants (without inoculation) by 21–56 %. The highest increase in control was observed for the varieties Triumph (0.49 t/ha) and Skarb (0.56 t/ha). The ability of nodule bacteria M. ciceri ND-64 to intensive synthesis of phytohormones and the formation of highly effective symbiosis with chickpea plants of different varieties provided a complementary interaction of rhizobia with plants and a significant increase in crop yield. Conclusion: Due to the interaction with aboriginal nodule bacteria, the highest parameters of nodulation and nitrogenase activity were typical for the varieties Triumf and Skarb, yields for Triumf and Budzhak. Screening of varieties by the response to inoculation with an effective strain of M. ciceri ND-64 indicates an increase in symbiotic activity in varieties Triumf, Budzhak (large-seeded), Pamiat (medium-seeded). The maximum increase in yield as a result of inoculation was found in chickpea varieties Skarb and Triumf. M. ciceri ND-64 are capable of active synthesis of substances of phytohormonal nature, which contributes to the effective interaction between rhizobia and chickpea plants.

BLACK OAT AND RYEGRASS INOCULATED WITH Azospirillum brasilense IN CROP-LIVESTOCK SYSTEM

ABSTRACT The success of the integrated crop-livestock system depends on the correct pasture management, particularly regarding nitrogen fertilization and grazing intensity. The objective of this study was to evaluate the total production of forage and the proportion of the botanical and structural components of black oat and annual ryegrass mixture. The experimental design was randomized blocks with three replicates and the treatments were arranged in a three-factorial scheme: seed inoculation (with and without Azospirillum brasilense inoculation), grazing management (conventional grazing, where the animals were kept in pasture with no control of pasture height; 30, 20 and 10 cm at the end of grazing, and a control without grazing), and nitrogen fertilization (0, 50 and 100 kg nitrogen ha-1). In treatments with pasture heights where grazing ended at 30, 20 and 10 cm, the height was monitored and biomass was collected when the animals entered and exited the plots. Manual separation of the components was used to determine the dry mass of green leaves, stems, senescent material and inflorescence. Total dry mass production was obtained based on the initial forage mass plus the daily accumulation rates. The proportion of structural components varied according to the different grazing managements, nitrogen doses and inoculation with Azospirillum brasilense. Biomass production of black oat and ryegrass mixture was increased by nitrogen application and Azospirillum brasilense inoculation.