Influence of the Mineral Nutrition Level on the Productivity of Cereal and Leguminous Agrocenoses in the Forest Steppe of Baikal

Abstract

The article presents findings of the influence of different levels of mineral nutrition on plant growth and development, the impact of fertilizers on the botanical composition, on the productivity and forage benefits of cereal-bean agrocenoses in the forest-steppe zone of the Baikal region. The objects of research were mixed crops of oats with peas and millet with vetch, peas, and Austrian winter pea. Legumes are the main source of protein increase in feed. In the field, the most widespread, among legumes, were vetch, sowing peas, field peas (Austrian winter pea). As a result of phenological observations, it was found that the growth and development of plants depended on the biological characteristics of crops, weather conditions and directly on the mineral nutrition level. The millet reacted most effectively to the application of mineral fertilizers, starting from the exit phase into the tube. The introduction of mineral fertilizers in pre-sowing tillage contributed to an increase in the proportion of legume components in the total green mass yield and a decrease in cereals. The highest competition in agrocenoses of millet with legume components was vetch, its share in the mixture increased, compared to the unfertilized background, by 6 and 14.5%, depending on the background of fertilizers. It was found that, compared with the unfertilized background, mineral fertilizers increased the yield of green mass from 1.5 to 4.9 tons per hectare, the collection of dry matter from 0.4 to 2.0 tons per hectare and the collection of feed units from 0.3 to 1.3 tons per hectare. Digestible protein content in 1 unit increased with the introduction of nitrogen fertilizer (N45), depending on the type of components in the mixture, from 3.2 to 6.6 g, and with the introduction of complex mineral fertilizer (N45P30K30) from 2.5 to 9.6 g. All are millet-bean mixtures at all levels of mineral nutrition comply with zootechnical standards.