The effect of boron fertilization on spring cereals

Abstract

Abstract. The research material was collected in the period from 1947 69, and was based on grain yields obtained in field experiments carried out with spring cereals in various parts of Finland. Fertilizers were used with and without boron. The boron, from 0.9 to 2.8 B kg/ha, was applied mainly as fertilizer borate and was mixed into the soil during seed bed preparation. The size of yield when boron was not applied did not depend significantly on the pH, calcium, phosphorus or boron content of the soils. The difference in yield obtained with boron fertilization varied from -520 to + 580 kg/ha. Hot water-soluble boron in the soil, and the joint effect of this and acid ammonium acetate-extractable calcium gave the best correlation with the yield differences. It appears that it is possible to improve the test value of hot water-soluble boron by taking into account the type of soil and its calcium content.