How to save on fertilizers and plant protection products - advice from the Institute of Plant Health announced
The time has come for top dressing of winter crops, and the first fungicidal treatments will soon follow. Therefore, agricultural producers are already facing the acute question of how to determine the correct norms of nitrogen fertilizers, in which winter crops will require microelements for full growth and development, and what fungicide would be appropriate to use.
The answers to all these questions will be prompted at the Institute of Plant Health.
“Although winter crops are still in a state of dormancy, farmers have already begun to massively prepare for the active season,” says Sergey Salnikov, a researcher at the Institute. — Yes, in recent days, agricultural producers from all over Ukraine have been sending us plants of winter cereals and rapeseed for various studies. Soil demand and research has also intensified. Depending on the state of crops and specific issues of interest to owners and agronomists of farms, we can offer a number of spring studies of winter crops, the results of which will be useful in the future when carrying out a complex of agrotechnical operations and choosing the best preparations.”
The Institute of Plant Health recommends, first of all, to conduct a study of the soil for the content of easily digestible nitrogen compounds. The obtained data and recommendations of the Institute's specialists will help to adjust the application rates of nitrogen fertilizers during spring top dressing.
Laboratory of the Institute of Plant Health
It is also important to examine plant material for the presence and determination of the species spectrum of phytopathogens. This study will allow you to select suitable fungicidal preparations, taking into account the identified pathogens of winter crops and the degree of infection of plants.
The nutritional needs of the plants themselves cannot be ignored. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct a study of plant material for the lack of macro- and microelements. The results obtained will help to choose comprehensive solutions for the full provision of winter crops with the necessary macro- and microelements, taking into account their physiological nutritional needs.
Together, Sergei Salnikov concludes, the above-mentioned set of spring research will allow farmers to choose the best science-based solutions to provide winter grains and rapeseed with everything they need and create favorable conditions for their growth and development. And given the increased prices for nitrogen fertilizers and plant protection products, it will also save a considerable amount on the purchase of the necessary production resources.