Influence of Foliar Top Dressing with Microfertilizers on Sunflower Growth, Development and Productivity

Abstract

he purpose of the research is to determine the duration of the interphase period, total water consumption, plant height, yield and quality of sunflower seeds, depending on the characteristics of hybrids and foliar top dressing with microfertilizers. Methods. Experimental studies were conducted during 2020–2021 in the experimental field of Mykolaiv National Agrarian University (Ukraine). Results. It was determined that all the studied microfertil-izers extended the duration of interfacial periods of sunflower plants. The largest total water consumption of sunflower plants (2259 m3/ha) was formed in the hybrid NK Kamen in the variant with foliar top dressing with microfertilizer Quantum, which was 0.9–6.5% more than in the same variant with hybrids Darius and Tutti. The highest height of sunflower plants among the hybrids submitted for study was formed by Darius – 165.7–170.9 cm, which was 5.0–5.7% higher than the height of plants of the NK Kamen hybrid and 7.2–8.0% more than the height of Tutti hybrid. It was found that the highest yield of sunflower seeds (2.55 t/ha) on average over the years of research was formed in the hybrid NK Kamen in the variant with foliar top dressing with microfertilizer Quan-tum, which exceeded its level in the non-fertilized control by 18.6% and the average yield for all variants of the experiment by 12.3%. The highest yield of sunflower seeds (2.56 t/ha) among the hybrids submitted for study was provided by NK Kamen in 2021, which was 12.3% more than in the Darius hybrid and 6.6% more than in the Tutti hybrid. Foliar top dressing with microfertilizers significantly affected the quality indicators of seeds of the studied sunflower hybrids. The maximum fat content values (from 50.1 up to 52.7%, depending on the hybrid) were achieved by applying Quantum microfertilizer in the 5-6-leaf phase. The conditional yield of oil from seeds in this variant of nutrition is also determined to be the maximum – from 1.13 up to 1.34 t/ha, depending on the hybrid. Less effective for the growth and development of plants and the formation of their productivity was the preparation Rostok, with the introduction of which the duration of the growing season increased by 1-2 days; total water consumption increased by 29–35 m3/ha; the height increased by 1.1–4.6 cm; seed yield increased by 0.80–0.28 t/ ha; the content fat in seeds increased by 0.02–0.03%; oil seed yield increased by 0.12–0.15 t/ha. © 2024, Polskie Towarzystwo Inzynierii Ekologicznej (PTIE).