THE EFFECT OF MICRO-ELEMENT FERTILIZERS ON THE YIELD AND QUALITY OF WINTER WHEAT SOWN AT DIFFERENT TIMES

Abstract

 The experiment is carried out in 2022–2023 at the Experimental Station of the Academy of Agriculture of Vytautas Magnus University. The granulometric composition of the soil was dominated by medium loam. The arable layer of the soil before the installation of the experiment had a neutral reaction (pH–7.0), moderate humus content (2.15%), high phosphorus content (226 mg kg^-1) and moderate potassium content (143 mg kg^-1). The experiment was carried out in four repetitions, the repetitions were randomly arranged. In a two-factor experiment, the influence of 4 different sowing times and additional fertilization with micronutrient fertilizers on winter wheat yield and grain quality was investigated. During the growing season, winter wheat is fertilized with nitrogen fertilizers three times the total rate of N₁₆₀.

When wheat was additionally fertilized with micronutrient fertilizers, grain yield was significantly higher compared to non-fertilized wheat. The highest yield (9.9–10.1 t ha^-1) was determined on September 20, in the sown wheat fields where the application of micronutrient fertilizers significantly (0.2 t ha^-1) increased the yield. The significantly lowest yield (9.0 t ha^-1) was determined in fields where winter wheat was sown on September 13. and additional fertilization was not performed. Significantly the highest weight of 1000 grains (53.9 g and 52.3 g), but the lowest protein content in grains (10.9 g and 10.7 g) was found in early sowing (September 6) wheat. In the crop of the latest winter wheat sowing (September 27), the lowest mass of 1000 grains (44.2 g) was determined in the unfertilized, and the significantly highest protein content (12.8% and 13.0%) in both the additionally fertilized and unfertilized in wheat grains.