INFLUENCE OF BIOSTIMULITANTS ON THE PRODUCTIVITY OF WINTER WHEAT

Abstract

The influence of biostimulants on the productivity of winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) was studied. The field experiment was conducted in the autumn of 2024 – spring of 2025 at the Kaunas district VMU Agriculture Academy Experimental Station, using bacterial mixtures Pseudomonas piscicola (1 l/ha) and P. kilonensis (1 l/ha) and extracts (nettle (5 l/ha) and nettle-yarrow (5 l/ha)). It was found that the applied biostimulants did not have significant effect on the density of winter wheat plants per square meter. The control treatment had the highest average number of plants - 256 plants per 1 m², while the average plant density was slightly lower in all treatments of biostimulant application. Although a higher number of plants was recorded in some repetitions than in the control variant, the overall result shows that the use of biostimulants did not have a significant positive effect on the number of winter wheat plants per square meter. It was found that the use of biostimulants had a positive effect on winter wheat tillering. In the control variant, the average tillering of plants reached 4.08 shoots per plant, while this indicator was higher in all variants of biostimulant application. The highest average tillering was determined using plant extracts - 4.85 shoots per plant. When using a combination of extracts and a bacterial mixture, the average reached 4.65 shoots per plant, and when using only a bacterial mixture - 4.5 shoots per plant. Although in some cases, lower tillering was recorded during individual repetitions than in the control, the overall results show that the use of biostimulants usually promoted more intensive tillering of winter wheat.