Fertilization system – scientifically proven use of fertilizers and ameliorants in the rotation, taking into account the biological needs of crops under the actual soil fertility and opportunities for agricultural enterprise, to maximize yields with high quality and simultaneously regulate the cultivation of soils in specific natural and climatic conditions.
Contents
- Fertilization system (Русская версия)
Concept of the fertilization system
Fertilizers, depending on the types, rates, timing and methods of application, their ratios and soil and climatic conditions have different effects and aftereffects. They are most fully used by crops in crop rotations in a particular rotation, due to the structure of cultivated areas. This necessitates the transition from the fertilization of individual crops to a fully justified system of fertilization of crop rotation.
The scheme of the system of fertilizers of crop rotation or agrocenosis is developed and used for a complete rotation of the crop rotation on the basis of the average 5-10-year supply of fertilizers to enterprises and the state of fertility of the fields of the rotation with the definition of types, doses, ratios and total need in kg/ha of active substances, as well as the balance of nutrients.
Doses and ratios of fertilizers and ameliorants of fertilization system scheme are annually adjusted in the plans of fertilizer application, taking into account the placement of crops and soil fertility of these fields, weather conditions and the provision of fertilizers.
Based on the annual plan make a calendar plan for the acquisition, accumulation and use of fertilizers, indicating the amounts, types for the entire fertilized area of the rotation or the entire farm. This allows to define areas of warehouses and storages for agrochemical agents, sequence of acquisition of quantities and types and, accordingly, to manage material and technical resources more effectively.
When implementing annual plans for the application of fertilizers, doses before sowing according to the results of soil diagnostics, as well as when fertilizing crops according to the results of plant diagnostics, are again adjusted.
Development of fertilizer system that meets the natural and organizational and economic conditions requires expert knowledge and practical skills. The following documents are needed to draw up a plan for the application of fertilizers:
- organizational and economic plan reflecting crop rotations;
- soil maps and agrochemical cartograms;
- data on actual yields for the last 5 years;
- norms of application of organic and mineral fertilizers;
- field history book.
To develop a fertilizer system it is also necessary to have information on the type of soil water regime, relief, susceptibility of soils to water and wind erosion, development of animal husbandry, possibilities for accumulation and application of all types of local fertilizers, financial resources, technical equipment for fertilizer application, availability of storage facilities.
Purposes and objectives of the fertilization system
The purpose of the fertilization system is to ensure the highest possible agronomic and economic efficiency on the condition of minimizing the negative impact on the environment with the available natural and economic resources of the enterprise.
The objectives of the fertilizer system in the agrocenosis (or farm) are:
- increasing the productivity of cultivated crops and improving the quality of products with the growth of fertilization of crops to optimal levels;
- elimination of the differences in fertility of individual fields of each crop rotation at any provision with fertilizers and (or) increasing of soil fertility of the fields to the optimum level;
- increase of return on unit of fertilizers by crop yield increase, i.e. increase of economic efficiency of fertilizers at any provision with them;
- obtaining of certified crops production with constant monitoring of agrochemical indicators of soil fertility;
- Increase of labor productivity, organizational and economic and managerial activities;
- continuous compliance with the requirements of environmental protection and sanitary and hygienic legislation.
The degree of achieving the goal and objectives varies with the biological characteristics of crops, soil and climatic and agrotechnical conditions, the amount and quality of fertilizers used.
Scientific fertilization system
The scientific system of fertilization can be divided into:
- Scientific and organizational system of fertilizer use in the farm.
- System of fertilizer use in crop rotation as a part of scientific farming system.
- System of fertilizing individual crops in the rotation, based on the use of optimal rates, forms, timing and methods of fertilizing.
All these components are interrelated.
Fertilization system on the farm
Fertilization system in the farm is a complex of agronomic, organizational and economic measures for the rational use of mineral and organic fertilizers, as well as chemical ameliorants to optimize soil fertility, increase crop productivity, improve the quality of crop production, increase labor productivity in agriculture. It is the most important condition for the intensification of agricultural production.
The fertilizer system in the farm includes:
- availability of warehouses for storing mineral fertilizers with the possibility of mechanization of technological operations;
- accumulation and storage of organic fertilizers;
- organization of vehicles for transportation of fertilizers;
- availability of machinery for application of mineral and organic fertilizers;
- methods of chemical reclamation of acidic and saline soils.
The objectives of the fertilizer system in the farm are:
- obtaining high and stable yields with good quality products;
- reproduction of soil fertility;
- realization of ecological functions of fertilizers in agrocenosis;
- increasing economic efficiency of fertilizers and labor productivity;
- reducing the cost of crop production;
- gaining maximum profit.
Fertilization system is a planned organization of a set of measures related to the use of fertilizers.
Fertilizer system in the farm is to develop and implement organizational, economic and economic measures related to production, procurement, purchase, transportation and storage of fertilizers. Includes identification of resources for local fertilizer production, harvesting, storage, planning of reclamation activities, determining the need for industrial mineral fertilizers, organization of their acquisition, storage and application to the soil. It should be provided the possibility of fertilizer mixing and application of fertilizers in a given ratio of nutrients, taking into account soil fertility, requirements of crops and adopted agrotechnics.
In the planning of these works takes into account integrated mechanization of technological processes for the application of fertilizers. An important step in developing a system of fertilizers in the farm is to discover the local fertilizer resources, chemical meliorants, the development of technologies for their rational use, the provision of material and technical base. The system should be based on scientifically based specialized crop rotations and strive to provide a positive or deficit-free balance of nutrients and organic matter in the soil-plant system.
Fertilizer system in crop rotation
Fertilizer system in crop rotation – the distribution of fertilizers in crop rotations, taking into account their specialization, local soil and climatic conditions, economic and fertilizer resources of the enterprise.
The system of fertilizers in the crop rotation means the distribution of organic and mineral fertilizers, ameliorants on the fields of the crop rotation taking into account the provision of maximum agronomic and economic effect under the condition of reproduction of soil fertility, improving their agrochemical, agrophysical and biological properties.
The system of fertilizers in crop rotation is based on scientifically grounded system of crop rotations in the farm, first of all, specialization of crop rotations. The effectiveness of fertilizers in the rotation with proper alternation of crops is higher than in monoculture or violation of alternation.
When developing the fertilization system in the rotation the system of soil-protecting tillage, forecrop, the nature of the crop residues, their impact on the agrochemical, agrophysical properties, microbiological activity, responsiveness of certain crops on some soils on calcium, magnesium, sulfur, trace elements are taken into account. Thus, on sandy soils shows the need for potassium and magnesium fertilizers, in neutral and carbonate soils – in manganese, peat-bog – in copper, on sod-podzolic, especially calcareous soils – nitrogen fertilizers.
The main indicator of fertilizer use in crop rotation is the amount of each type of fertilizer per 1 ha of crop rotation area.
Fertilization system of individual crops
Fertilization system of individual crops is a plan of application of organic and mineral fertilizers, which provides doses, forms, timing and methods of application, taking into account the planned yield, the biological needs of culture in nutrients, crop rotation, rotation features, agricultural practices, soil and climatic conditions, agrochemical properties of soils, natural fertility, fertilizer properties, the combination of organic and mineral fertilizers, economic conditions.
The amount of fertilizers for each crop is calculated taking into account the economic removal of nutrients by the planned harvest.
Table. Removal of main nutrients from the harvest, kg per 100 kg of main products (by V.A. Demin)
| Winter wheat | |||
| Spring wheat | |||
| Winter rye | |||
| Corn (grain) | |||
| Corn (green mass) | |||
| Oats | |||
| Barley | |||
| Peas | |||
| Flax fiber | |||
| Hemp | |||
| Sugar beet | |||
| Potato | |||
| Clover (hay) | |||
| Timothy (hay) |
*Nitrogen used from soil and fertilizer without nitrogen fixation
According to the reference data, determine the amount of NPK to obtain the planned yield. On the basis of agrochemical soil survey cartograms the amount of nutrients contained in each field of the crop rotation is established. Since plants can only use a certain portion of these substances, set the amount of nutrients available to plants, taking into account the coefficients of their use from the soil and therefore reduce the calculated dose of NPK.
Fertilizers cannot be fully used by plants because some of them are assimilated by microorganisms, leached or transferred to an inaccessible form for plants. In addition, crops may absorb the same fertilizer differently.
Table. Plant use of NPK from manure and mineral fertilizers, %[1]Basics of agricultural production technology. Farming and crop production. Edited by V.S. Niklyaev. - Moscow: "Bylina", 2000. - 555 p.
| Total content | |||
| Used in the first year | |||
| Used in the second year | |||
| Used in the first year | |||
| Used in the second year | |||
Considering all of the above factors, an adjustment is made to the calculated rate, obtaining the final amount of nutrients for each crop needed to obtain the planned yield.
After determining the rates of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium for the crops, the data is summarized in a table for the crop rotation, which specifies the methods and timing of fertilizer application in kilograms of active substance or in terms of specific fertilizers.
Fertilization systems in the rotation and individual crops are interrelated. If an effective fertilizer system is developed based on optimizing plant nutrition with macro- and microelements, which allows to realize the potential productivity of the crop in the rotation, then the rotation as a whole will give the maximum productivity.
Fertilization system provisions
The system of fertilization in the crop rotation is not a simple summation of fertilizers of individual crops, but a complex combination of the action of biological, physiological and biochemical factors of plants with physical, physical and chemical and biological factors of the soil and human influences on the conditions of growth and development of plants.
The general basic provisions of the scientific system of fertilization:
1. The greatest efficiency of fertilizers is manifested in the high culture of farming with the use of a set of agrotechnical measures and the constant reproduction of soil fertility. The importance of agrotechnics increases with the use of high doses of fertilizers. High doses of fertilizers cannot compensate for violations of other components of scientific farming.
2. All cultivated plants during vegetation should be provided with the optimal amount and ratio of nutrients, which is achieved by applying fertilizers and mobilization of soil nutrients. For example, young plants have an underdeveloped root system, so they are sensitive to the lack of nutrients, especially phosphorus, which subsequently has a negative impact on plant growth and yield formation.
At a young age, plants are also sensitive to an increased concentration of salts. In the second half of the growing season with the development of root system and vegetative mass the increased need of plants in nutrients is satisfied by mineral fertilizers and mobilization of fertility.
3. Proper use of fertilizers also implies their layer-by-layer placement in the soil in the zone of root system development. In different periods of life plants consume different amounts of nutrients and need different concentrations of soil solution. For example, the phosphorus of superphosphate, usually moves along the soil profile and is fixed in the places of its application. There is a need to apply fertilizers at different times and soil layers: under plowing (main application), at sowing (pre-sowing) and during the growing season (top dressing). All of these techniques are important when developing a system of fertilizing crops. The combination of these techniques allows you to create optimal nutritional conditions for crops according to their needs.
4. If a farm has several crop rotations, it is important to properly distribute fertilizers, taking into account their specialization. First of all fertilizers are provided for vegetable rotations, which are the most demanding to the provision of nutrients. In addition, these crops are a good payback for the fertilizer applied. Field crop rotations with a saturation of row crops, especially technical crops, are also demanding to nutritional conditions. High doses of fertilizers are used in forage crop rotations saturated with corn and forage root crops. In general the general principle of fertilizer distribution in crop rotations is the specific weight of economically profitable crop, which by increase in yields most fully pays for the unit of fertilizer made.
5. Organic and mineral fertilizers when applied systematically are approximately equally effective, except for certain conditions.
Organic fertilizers are mainly applied in crop rotations, saturated with highly productive fodder crops, mineral fertilizers – in field crop rotations, saturated primarily with grain crops and placed on the massifs away from livestock farms. Consideration is also given to the fertilization of fields in previous years, primarily with organic fertilizers.
Alternation of crops in the rotation allows for more effective use of the effects of organic and mineral fertilizers. For example, manure in the first year after application is used by about half, the rest is used by the second and third crops. Effects of some phosphorus fertilizers lasts 3-4 years, potassium – 2-3 years, nitrogen because of the mobility and poor fixation in the soil almost do not manifest themselves after action. The introduction of lime or gypsum affects the yield even after 10-15 years.
In the rotation of manure and mineral fertilizers tend to use under fallow-occupied crops and row crops, as the most demanding, then under the winter and spring cereals. The joint use of organic and mineral fertilizers in the rotation increases their effectiveness.
6. Systematic application of phosphate fertilizers leads to the accumulation of mobile phosphate in the soil and increases the effectiveness of nitrogen fertilizers. In nitrogen deficiency, the effect of phosphorus fertilizers is reduced.
7. Scientific system of fertilizers in crop rotation provides constant control over the reproduction of soil fertility, balance of nutrients and humus.
8. When developing a system of fertilizers the temperature conditions and amount of precipitation falling out during the vegetation period should be taken into account. With excessive moisture some of the nutrients are washed away, and increased temperature leads to increased microbiological processes of decomposition of soil organic matter.
Zonal and organizational-economic peculiarities of fertilization systems
When developing a fertilization system, natural, agrotechnical and organizational and economic conditions that determine the effectiveness of fertilizers in a particular zone are taken into account.
Many nutrient-demanding crops (sugar beet, corn, potato, sunflower) are grown in the forest-steppe and steppe part of the Central Black Earth zone of Russia, but in this zone the limiting factor for yield is moisture, so the use of agronomic techniques aimed at accumulation and preservation of moisture will increase the efficiency of fertilizers. According to the Research Institute of Agriculture of South-East (Saratov), the efficiency of manure in wet years is 1.5 times higher than in dry years due to better water regime and slow decomposition of manure. In this zone, the depth of fertilizer embedding is also important: the top soil quickly dries out, so the applied nutrients become unavailable for plants.
Table. Fertilizer system in cereal-beet crop rotation (manure in tons, NPK in kg per 1 ha)[2]Fundamentals of agricultural production technology. Farming and crop production. Edited by V.S. Niklyaev. - Moscow: "Bylina", 2000. - 555 p.
| Seeded fallow | ||||||||||
| Winter | ||||||||||
| Sugar beet | ||||||||||
| Spring cereals + clover | ||||||||||
| Clover 1st year of use | ||||||||||
| Winter | ||||||||||
| Sugar beet | ||||||||||
| Corn on grain | ||||||||||
| Spring cereals | ||||||||||
In the Central Black Earth zone of Russia, phosphorus fertilizers are effective, potash fertilizers give a small increase in yield, and on saline soils and solonetz are ineffective at all.
Irrigated farming is widespread in the steppe areas, the fertilizer system of which is characterized by higher doses of mineral fertilizers than in rainfed areas. According to experiments carried out in Samara region, under irrigation and the effect of fertilizers, the protein content in the grain of winter wheat increases by 2.8%, spring wheat – by 1.8%.
High doses of fertilizers are applied to cotton, as the most valuable technical crop of irrigated agriculture. More than 0.8-1 tons of mineral fertilizers per 1 hectare are applied to it. During the growing season, cotton is fertilized several times, using 25-30% of the total amount of fertilizers. High doses of fertilizers are also used for vegetable crops.
When developing a fertilizer system, the acidity of the soil is taken into account, and lime is used if necessary. As a rule, lime is applied in the fallow field and under row crops.
Fertilizer application methods
Several methods of fertilizer application are used in production:
- main (basic);
- before sowing (pre-sowing);
- with-sowing;
- post-sowing, or top dressing (feeding).
Main (basic) fertilization provides plants with nutrients throughout the growing season. This fertilizer is used by the plants when their root system is well developed. Main fertilizer is applied to a sufficient depth in a moist layer of soil, most often under plowing and in large quantities.
In different zones of Russia, the basic fertilizer is applied at the time optimum for the region. If deep plowing is done in the fall and surface tillage is done in the spring, the basic fertilizer is incorporated in the fall. Where, in addition to autumn tillage, spring plowing is used, it is advisable to apply mineral fertilizers, except phosphorus fertilizers, in the spring.
Before sowing (pre-sowing) and with-sowing fertilization is carried out before or at the same time as sowing. These fertilizers provide young, developing plants with nutrients during the first phases of growth. Doses of such fertilizers are small. They are put into the soil during pre-sowing cultivation or a little deeper into the rows or wells when planting. These methods of application are the most effective, but if the top layer of soil dries out in areas with insufficient moisture, the effect of such fertilizer decreases.
Post-sowing fertilization, or top dressing, (feeding), provides plants with nutrients during certain phases of growth and development, when there is the greatest need for certain nutrients. In the spring, after snowmelt, winter crops need feeding primarily with nitrogen fertilizers, and to a lesser extent with phosphorus and potassium fertilizers. For solid crops, fertilizers are distributed evenly over the field. Fertilization of row crops is carried out during the inter-row cultivation by cultivator-plant feeders.
Different methods of application complement each other, so the right combination of them increases the effectiveness of fertilizers.
Fertilizer application rates (doses)
Determination of scientifically justified optimal doses and ratios of fertilizers under crops, taking into account biological characteristics and crop rotation, soil-climatic and organizational and economic conditions, is an important part of agrochemical research systems and practice of fertilizers, meliorants, plant protection agents and growth regulators.
In practice, the fertilization system in the agrocenosis consists of stages:
- long-term (at least for a rotation of crop rotation) general scheme of optimal doses and ratios of fertilizers, developed taking into account the fertility of soils of the agrocenosis;
- annual plan of fertilizers use – correction of doses of the general scheme, taking into account actual placement of crops on the fields, differences in the fertility of fields, weather conditions and organizational and economic factors of a particular year and distribution of adjusted doses by methods and timing of application, indicating specific optimal forms of fertilizers;
- calendar plan for purchase and application of fertilizers, made with indication of specific fertilizer volumes for the whole fertilized area;
- correction of annual plan doses during implementation according to results of soil and plant diagnostics of plant nutrition.
All listed stages of fertilizer system are interconnected, and each subsequent stage is a logical continuation of the previous one.
Sources
Agrochemistry. Textbook / V.G. Mineev, V.G. Sychev, G.P. Gamzikov et al. – M.: Publishing house of the All-Russian Scientific Research Institute named after D.N. Pryanishnikov, 2017. – 854 с.
Fundamentals of agricultural production technology. Farming and crop production. Edited by V.S. Niklyaev. – Moscow: Bylina, 2000. – 555 с.
Yagodin B.A., Zhukov Y.P., Kobzarenko V.I. Agrochemistry / Edited by B.A. Yagodin. – Moscow: Kolos, 2002. – 584 p.: ill.
Evtefeev Y.V., Kazantsev G.M., Bases of agronomy: textbook. – M.: FORUM, 2013. – 368 p.: ill.