The Effect of Organic Fertilizers on the Content of Trace Elements in the Green Mass of Corn

Abstract

The optimal content of trace elements in green feeds is of fundamental importance for ensuring high productivity of cattle. For the production of green fodder, corn grown in fields located near livestock complexes and fertilized by by-products of animal husbandry (BPA) is used. In conditions of a high load of BPA (manure, manure runoff), the accumulation of trace elements in the green mass of corn (GMC) occurs more intensively than when using fertilizers in mineral form. Corn cultivation promotes active removal of Fe, Zn, Mn from the soil and weak removal of Cu. The accumulation of trace elements in plants grown on acidic soils fertilized by BPA is higher than when grown on neutral soils. According to the absolute content in GMC, trace elements are arranged in the following sequence: Mn>Fe>Zn>Cu. The corresponding series coincides with the sequence of decreasing concentrations of mobile forms of elements in agro-ecosystems, but differs from the sequence of changes in the indices of accumulation (IA) of trace elements. The IA values calculated on the basis of experimental data are arranged as follows: Fe>Zn>Mn>Cu. The IA of all trace elements, except Cu, in the GMC was higher than one, so corn can be classified as battery plants. IA Cu in different agro-ecosystems was below 1 and practically did not depend on the level of metabolic acidity. The weak accumulation is probably due to the low Cu content in sod-podzolic soils, the high stability of Cu complexes with organic ligands and the significant content of nitrogen available to plants in soils fertilized by BPA.