CC BY
7UDK 631.8+633.1
INFLUENCE OF FERTILIZER NITROGEN AND BIOLOGICAL PREPARATIONS ON SPRING WHEAT YIELD AND GRAIN QUALITY
JOSEPH NYAMBOSE
PhD Student at Peoples Friendship University of Russia (RUDN) Ulitsa Miklukho-Maklaya 6,
Moscow, 117198
ALEXEY ANATOLIEVICH ZAVALIN
Pryanishnikov All-Russia Research Institute of Agrochemistry, Moscow, 127434 Russia
Abstract- In dark-gray forest soil, the influence of fertilizer nitrogen and microbial biopreparations was assessed on spring wheat yield and grain quality. The use of this method increased grain yield from 328 g/m2 to 479-517 g/m2. When seeds were inoculated with various biopreparations, grain yield on PK-background reached 397-456 g/m2, on the background with NK-fertilizer - 490- 497 g/m2. Both strains exceeded the standard one made with strain Ch-13 in terms of effectiveness on grain yield of spring wheat. Biomass of spring wheat (grain + straw) increased from biopreparations in relation to PK-background by 14-21%, and its higher increase was obtained when seeds were inoculated with biopreparation based on endophytic strain V417, which is equal when N45 is applied in effectiveness. On the weight 1000 grains, all studied biopreparations in the experiment on the background of PK - fertilizers showed an increase by 2.8-3.8g in weight of 1000 grains of spring wheat. The positive effect was observed on biopreparations V167 and V417 when N45 was applied. The protein content of spring wheat grain varied from 12.4 to 13.1-13.9% over the three years of the experiment. Inoculation of seeds with microbial biopreparations contributed to an increase of protein content in spring wheat grain by 0.7-1.2%, and there was a tendency to increase protein content from biopreparations based on strains V167 and V417 compared to standard Ch-13.
Keywords: Fertilizer nitrogen, spring wheat, microbial biopreparations, nitrogen fixation, biological yield
1. Introduction
As the second most important staple food of the human population, wheat is adapted to a wide range of eco-climatic conditions on six continents of the world. It is estimated that 36% of the world's population depends directly on wheat for their caloric needs. It provides 21% of the caloric and 20% of the protein requirements for about 4.5 billion people worldwide, most of whom are in developing countries [8]. According to 2019 statistical findings, wheat was cultivated globally on 215.9 million hectares and produced 765.8 million tons with an average yield of 3,547 kg/ha, respectively [13]. Wheat major producers like Russia, is estimated to have recorded in the recent past years 75 -100 million tons of grain wheat [10]. Of this volume, the share of winter wheat grain is about 70%, and spring wheat about 30%. However, the projected amount will still not be enough to feed an immeasurably fast-growing global population, and this will call for an additional millions of tons of wheat to meet the nutritional needs of humanity by 2050. To achieve these goals, it is reported that wheat grain yields in developing countries must be increased by 77% [12]. In order to meet the nutritional value needs of humans, it is it is important to know the quality of grain resulting from the use of various techniques in its cultivation [9].
Among the factors influencing the quality of grain, the main place, in addition to the varietal characteristics of the crop, are the conditions of nitrogen nutrition [4]. Nitrogen nutrition conditions of spring wheat are regulated by the application of nitrogen fertilizers [5], as well as the use of microbial biopreparations, which affect plants by producing physiologically active substances [1], and providing nitrogen to plants via biological nitrogen fixation mechanisms [6].
Aim of the experiment: To evaluate the influence of fertilizer nitrogen and biological preparations on spring wheat yield and grain quality.
2. Materials and Methods
Microfield experiments were carried out at the Central Experimental Station of All-Russian Research Institute of Agrochemistry (Moscow Region) in 0.25 x 0.25 cm bottomless plastic vessels with an area of 0.0625m2. Meteorological conditions varied slightly in the years of studies, but did not have a significant impact on the productivity of spring wheat. At the beginning of May the vessels were filled with dark-grey forest soil with the following agrochemical characteristics: humus (according to Tyurin) 2.9 ... 3.0%; pНCl - 5.9 ... 6.2; mobile forms P2O5 and K2O (according to Kirsanov) 120 ... 132 and 131 ... 140 mg/kg respectively; Hg (according to Kappen) 1.12 ... 1.24 mg-eq/100 g. According to the content of mobile phosphorus and potassium the soil is medium-cultivated. For nitrogen fertilizer, ammonium nitrate was used with dosage amount of nitrogen 45 and 90 kg/ha or 4.5 and 9.0 g/m2, and for optimization of phosphorus-potassium nutrition double superphosphate and potassium chloride were used with 45 kg/ha of active substance or 0.28 g P2O5 and KCl/vessel. We studied the effectiveness of the use of two new biopreparations. Biopreparation V 417 was created on the basis of a strain of endophytic bacteria Bacillus subtilis V 417. It has a pronounced fungicidal activity against a spectrum of phytopathogenic fungi of the genera Fusarium and Alternaria; bactericidal activity against phytopathogenic bacteria Clavibacter michiganensis subsp. sepedonicus, Erwinia carotovora subsp. atroseptica, Pseudomonas syringae; and growth-stimulating effect in relation to various agricultural crops such as spring wheat, corn, sugar beet, potatoes [6]. The second biopreparation was created on the basis of a strain of endophytic bacteria Bacillus amyloliquefaciens V 167. It has fungicidal activity against phytopathogenic fungi Alternaria alternata, Fusarium culmorum, Fusarium graminearum, and Fusarium sporotrichioides and a phytostimulating effect in relation to various agricultural crops (radish, peas, corn, lettuce, vetch-oat mixture, spring wheat).
As a standard, we used the Extrasol preparation [14], created on the basis of Bacillus subtilis Ch-13 strain. It is highly competitive with other soil microorganisms. During growth, it is capable of synthesizing substances that inhibit the development of phytopathogenic fungi and bacteria, causative agents of diseases, due to the active colonization of bacteria of the strain, it improves the development of root hairs and increases their absorption capacity of phosphorus, enhances the absorption of nutrients from fertilizers by plants, and increases the resistance of plants to reduced temperatures and high drought levels.
All studied preparations are able to fix atmospheric nitrogen. Seeds were inoculated on the day of sowing at the rate of 600 g per hectare sowing rate; skimmed milk was used as an adhesive. The location of the vessels was randomized, the repetition was fourfold. For the investigation of the use of fertilizer nitrogen by plants, ammonium nitrate labelled (15N) in both groups (15NH4 15NO3) with an enrichment of 47.5 at % was used. The experiment was established and soil and plant sampling were carried out according to the procedure in [11] N total in plant and soil samples were determined using an elemental analyser using the Dumas dry ashing method, and the isotopic composition of nitrogen was determined using Delta V Advantage mass spectrometer. Statistical processing of the results was carried out by the dispersion method using the StatVIUA program, and the significance of differences was assessed according to Fisher's F-test.
3. Results and Discussion
Productivity of any crop is evaluated by the weight of grain and the constituent elements of the yield structure. These include the ratio of main and by-products, this ratio determines the proportion of grain in the total biological yield, the more grain, the more effectively the biological potential of the wheat genotype is used [15]. Determination of yield structure of the spring wheat crop makes it possible to identify which elements causes the increase in grain weight. The study of the external factors, to which in our experiment was dependant on include doses of nitrogen fertilizers and inoculants (biopreparations), as well as weather conditions. On average for three years of microfield experiments on PK-background the grain yield of spring wheat on medium dark - grey
forest soil was 328 g/m2 and due to regulation of nutritional conditions by nitrogen fertilizer, grain yield increased to 479-517 g/m2 (Graph 1).
Average grain yield, g/m2
600 500 400 300 200 100 0
У
<2>
A4
4?
Ж
ж
■A A
J?
Ж
Graph 1. Grain yield of spring wheat when using inoculants (biological preparations) and nitrogen
fertilizer, g/m2
With seed inoculation with various biopreparations grain yield on the PK background reached 397456 g/m2, on the background with NK fertilizer - 490- 497 g/m2. The gain from application of biopreparations on PK-background was 69-128 g/m2 or 21-39%, while the maximum gain of 128 g/m2 (39%) was obtained from V417, followed by V167 strain. Both strains exceeded the standard one made with strain Ch-13 in terms of effectiveness on grain yield of spring wheat. The effect of the biopreparation based on the strain V417 on the PK - background is equivalent to the application of nitrogen fertilizer at a dose of N45 for spring wheat. Increasing the dose to N90 provided a further reliable increase in grain yield of spring wheat (an increase of 38 g/m2). And this is natural, because increasing doses of nitrogen fertilizer, as a rule, provides an increase in grain yield of spring wheat [16]. On the background with the full mineral fertilizer the maximum effect was obtained using the standard biopreparation, based on strain Ch-13, where the increase was 100 g/m2 or 30%, followed by the preparation based on strain V167 61 g/m2 or 19% (Graph 1). On the background with nitrogen fertilizer from the use of biopreparation V417 reliable increase in grain yield was not obtained. In all the years of experiments, the predominant factor of influence on grain yield was the studied parameters, namely nitrogen fertilizer and microbial biopreparations used for inoculation, belonging to both associative (Ch-13) and endophytic bacteria (V167 and V417).
Under the influence of nitrogen fertilizer and studied biopreparations also changed the accumulation of biomass of spring wheat, which included grain and straw (graph. 2).
Graph 2. Biomass accumulation of spring wheat when seed is inoculated with biopreparations and
fertilizer nitrogen.
The value of this indicator is necessary to assess the impact of the studied factors on the accumulation of basic elements of mineral nutrition in the crop and calculations of their effective use in the formation of grain yield. On average, over three years of experiments biomass of spring wheat under the influence of nitrogen fertilizer and biopreparations studied increased in relation to PK -background by 133-287 g/m2 or 14-26% relative. All studied biopreparations on PK - background increased biomass of spring wheat by 133-223 g/m2 or 14-17% relative. The biopreparation based on endophytic strain V417 had an advantage over the other two studied strains.
The use of different biopreparations for inoculation of spring wheat seeds had no positive effect on the background with N45 (Graph. 2), where the increase of biomass was 271-285 g/m2 or on average 25% in relation to PK - background. In terms of efficiency, the effect of strains V417, V167 and Ch-13 on spring wheat biomass was inferior to nitrogen fertilizer application at a dose of N45, which increased biomass in relation to PK-background by 25%. Doubling the dose of nitrogen fertilizer did not provide significant growth of biomass of spring wheat and was 26% in relation to the PK - background. Consequently, the biomass of spring wheat increased by 14-21% relative to PK-background with higher growth obtained by seed inoculation with biopreparation based on endophytic strain V417, which is equal to when N45 is applied in effectiveness. Against the background with N45 there is no additional increase in biomass from biological preparations, as well as from doubling the dose of nitrogen fertilizer.
Determination of the weight of 1000 grains in the years of the experiment showed that this indicator slightly varied. The weight of 1000 grains was influenced by biopreparations, and mineral fertilizers studied in the experiment (Graph. 3).
Change in grain weight (1000 grains), g
46 44 42 40 38 36
PK-background (B) B +biopreparation V167 B +N45
B + N45 + biopreparation V167 B + N90
B +biopreparation Ch-13 B + biopreparation V417 B +N45 + biopreparation Ch-13 B + N45 + biopreparation V417
Graph 3. Changes in weight of 1000 grains of spring wheat when using inoculants (biopreparations) and nitrogen fertilizer. The average weight of 1,000 grains in the years of experiment was 42.5 g, the variation by experiment variant was in the range from 39.5 to 44.0 g. The minimum weight of 1000 grains formed on the PK-background (39.5 g), because of nitrogen fertilizer in doses of N45 and N90 weight of 1000 grains is 44.0 and 43.5 g, respectively. This is explained by the positive effect of nitrogen on grain formation by creating favourable conditions for photosynthesis [14]. All biopreparations studied in the experiment provided an increase by 2.8-3.8 g in 1000 grains weight of spring wheat against the background of PK fertilizers and no positive effect of biopreparations on 1000 grains weight was observed when N45 was applied.
The quality of soft wheat grain according to [7], is evaluated by several parameters (colour, odour, vitreousness, nature, moisture, trashy impurities). However, the main parameters for evaluating the wheat grain are the mass fraction of protein and the mass fraction of raw gluten as a percentage. According to the content of protein and raw gluten wheat grain is divided into 5 classes, each of which has characteristics and limiting norm for soft wheat (Table 1).
Indicator Grain quality class
1 2 3 4 5
Protein content % on dry matter, not less 14.5 13.5 12.0 10.0 Not limited
Crude gluten content, % not less 32.0 28.0 23.0 18.0 Not limited
Table 1. Characteristics and limiting norms for classes of soft wheat grain [7]
Determination of protein content in spring wheat grain, which was carried out according to the concentration of total nitrogen in the grain, multiplied by a coefficient factor of 5.7%, showed that, because of nitrogen fertilization and inoculation of spring wheat seeds with biological preparations, protein content increased in all years of the experiment (Table 2).
Variant Grain Grain
protein content % +/- gluten content % +/-
PK-background (B) 12.4 0.0 24.4 0.0
B + biopreparation Chi-13 12.5 0.1 23.9 -0.5
B + biopreparation V167 12.9 0.5 24.4 0.0
B + biopreparation V417 12.6 0.2 24.1 -0.3
B + N45 12.7 0.2 25.5 1.1
B + N45 + biopreparation Chi-13 13.1 0.7 24.8 0.4
B + N45 + biopreparation V167 13.6 1.2 25.5 1.1
B + N45 + biopreparation V 417 13.5 1.1 24.7 0.3
B + N90 13.9 1.5 26.2 1.8
Table 2. Protein and raw gluten content in spring wheat grain when using fertilizer nitrogen and
microbial preparations, %
The average protein content in grain of spring wheat variety Zlata varied from 12.4 to 13.1-13.9% over the three years of the experiment. This increase is due to the effect of nitrogen applied as part of mineral fertilizer, especially at an application rate of N90. At this rate the protein content was maximum -13.9%. At an application rate of N45 the protein content in the grain of spring wheat did not change compared with the PK - background. As a result of seed inoculation with biopreparations studied on PK - background, the protein content in grain did not change. This can be attributed to insufficient available mineral forms of nitrogen to plants, as reported by [3]. Inoculation of seeds with microbial biopreparations increased the protein content in grain of spring wheat by 0,7-1,2%, and there was a tendency for increased protein content from biopreparations based on strains V167 and V417 compared to the standard Ch-13.
The second important indicator of the quality of spring wheat grain is the raw gluten content. This indicator changed in all years of the experiment with the use of biopreparations and through the application of nitrogen fertilizer. These changes are associated with different grain protein content because these indicators are interrelated [2]. On average over the three years of the experiment, the content of crude gluten increased from 24,4% to 25,5% and 26,2% and the maximum accumulation of crude gluten was achieved with the addition of N90, where the increase to the PK background was 1.8%, from the addition of N45 this increase was 1.1%. There was no effect observed from all biopreparations on PK-background (Table 2). The use of biopreparations for seed inoculation at application of N45 provided only a weak tendency to increase the content of crude gluten in grain and this is observed from the biopreparation V167.
When summarizing the quality of grain in terms of protein and crude gluten content, it was found that the use of nitrogen fertilizer and biological preparations, the grain quality obtained corresponded to the third-class quality (Table 1).
4. Conclusion
The results of Microfield experiments conducted for some years to evaluate the effect of nitrogen fertilizer and biopreparation showed a positive effect on the increase of grain yield of spring wheat. When seeds were inoculated with various biopreparations, grain yield on PK-background reached 397-456 g/m2, on the background with NK-fertilizer - 490- 497 g/m2. The gain from application of biopreparations on PK-background was 69-128 g/m2 or 21-39%, while the maximum gain of 128 g/m2 (39%) was obtained from V417, followed by V167 strain. Both strains exceeded the standard one made with strain Ch-13 in terms of effectiveness on grain yield of spring wheat.
Biomass of spring wheat (grain + straw) increased from biopreparations in relation to PK-background by 14-21%, and its higher increase was obtained when seeds were inoculated with biopreparation based on endophytic strain V417, which is equal when N45 is applied in effectiveness. Against the background with N45 there is no additional increase in biomass from the biopreparation, as well as from doubling the dose of nitrogen fertilizer. All biopreparations studied in the experiment on the background of PK - fertilizers showed an increase by 2.8-3.8g in weight of 1000 grains of spring wheat. The positive effect of biopreparations when N45 was applied.
On average, the protein content of spring wheat grain varied from 12.4 to 13.1-13.9% over the three years of the experiment. Inoculation of seeds with microbial biopreparations contributed to an increase of protein content in spring wheat grain by 0.7-1.2%, and there was a tendency to increase
AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES
protein content from biopreparations based on strains V167 and V417 compared to standard Ch-13. Modifying nutrition conditions by the introduction of fertilizer nitrogen, the content of crude gluten increased from 24,4% to 25,5% and 26,2% on average for three years, the maximum accumulation of crude gluten was reached at the addition of N90, where the increase was 1,8%, from the addition of N45 this increase was 1,1%. At the application of N45 seed inoculation provided a weak trend to increase the content of crude gluten in the grain from the biopreparation V167.
1. Tikhonovich I.A., Zavalin A.A. Prospects of using nitrogen-fixing and phytostimulating microorganisms to increase the efficiency of the agro-industrial complex and improve the agroecological situation of the Russian Federation // Fertility. 2016. No. 5. p. 28...32.
2. Pavlov, A.N. Physiological changes in the spring wheat plant under the influence of growing conditions, leading to differences in protein content in grain / A.N. Pavlov // Agricultural biology. -1984. - № 1. - P. 24
3. Zavalin A.A. Mineral and biological nitrogen in agriculture in Russia. Moscow: VNIIA Publ., 2022. 304 p. (in Russian).
4. Zavalin A.A., Sokolov O.A. Nitrogen and wheat grain quality// Fertility. 2018. No. 4. p. 14...17.
5. Zavalin A.A., Nitrogen nutrition and productivity of spring wheat varieties. Moscow: Agroconsult, 2003.p. 160
6. Zavalin A.A. Biopreparations, fertilizers and crops. M.: VNIIA Publishing House. 2005. p. 302
7. GOST R 52554-2006. Wheat. Technical conditions (internet-law.ru)
8. Riaz, Muhammad Waheed, Liu Yang, Muhammad Irfan Yousaf, Abdul Sami, Xu Dong Mei, Liaqat Shah, Shamsur Rehman, Liu Xue, Hongqi Si, and Chuanxi Ma. 2021. "Effects of Heat Stress on Growth, Physiology of Plants, Yield and Grain Quality of Different Spring Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) Genotypes" Sustainability 13, no. 5: 2972. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13052972
9. Scientific basis of the production of high- quality wheat grains: scientific publications of M.: FGNU «rosinformagrotech », 2018 pp 396
10. Agriculture of Russia 2021 stat collection /rosstat M., 2021: pp 100
11. Kudeyarov, V.N., Assessment of nutritional degradation of arable soils in Russia, Vestn. Ross. Akad. Nauk, 2015, vol. 85, no. 9, pp. 771-775
12. Sharma, I.; Tyagi, B.S.; Singh, G.; Venkatesh, K.; Gupta, O.P. Enhancing wheat production—A global perspective. Indian J. Agric. Sci. 2015, 85, 3-13. [Google Scholar]
13. FAO Food and Agriculture Organization of United Nations 2020. Available online: http://www.fa0.0rg/fa0stat/en/#data/QC (accessed on 10 January 2021).
14.Electronic resource: http://kniga.seluk.ru/k-mehanika/1095608-1-effektivnost-primeneniya-biopreparata-ekstrasol-moskva-2007-rossiyskaya-akademiya-selskohozyaystvennih-nauk-vser.php
15. Khlestkina, E.K., Shoeva, O.Y. & Gordeeva, E.I. Flavonoid biosynthesis genes in wheat. Russ J Genet ApplRes 2017, 5 268-278.https://doi.org/10.1134/S2079059715030077
16. Shafran S.A. Nitrogen balance in Russian agriculture and its regulation in conditions // Agrochemistry. 2020 №. 6 p. 14 -21
FUNDING
The study was supported by the Russian Science Foundation grant no. 22-26-00
REFERENCES
