PRODUCTIVITY INDICATORS OF COMMON SPRING BARLEY WITH LOCAL APPLICATION OF SAPROPEL AT SOWING

Abstract

Ukraine occupies a significant place in the world production of barley, exporting it to numerous countries of the African and Asian continents. In view of this, improving agricultural technologies for growing spring barley is an urgent task for both the scientific community and agricultural producers. Localized sowing application of organic fertilizers, in particular sapropel, can contribute not only to increasing the productivity of grain crops, but also have a beneficial effect on the ecological situation. The aim of this work was to establish the impact of sowing row application of sapropel at a dose of 100 kg/ha on the productivity of common spring barley under the conditions of an organic farming system in the Forest-Steppe zone of Ukraine. During the three-year experimental period (2023–2025), the application of granulated sapropel at a dose of 100 kg/ha at sowing contributed to an increase in the plant viability index to the harvesting phase by 1–5%, the productive tillering index by 1–4%, and the number of grains in the ear by 2–3%. These favorable trends correlated with an increase in the biological yield of spring barley. On average, over three years of research, the local application of sapropel at sowing resulted in an increase in the biological yield of spring barley by 3-4 c/ha, which is an increase of 7 to 11% compared to the control variant, where sapropel was not applied. At the same time, the effect of sapropel application on the productive characteristics of spring barley demonstrated varietal specificity: the greatest yield increase after sapropel application was observed for the Komandor variety and amounted to 10–11%. Our results are consistent with previously documented data on the beneficial effect of sapropel substances on the culture of spring barley (Hordeum vulgare L.). This positive effect is probably due to the presence of humic compounds in the composition of sapropel, which are known for their biostimulating effect on plant organisms. In addition, local application of sapropel during sowing can contribute to the formation of an optimal microenvironment for the development of a symbiotic microbial community in the soil. The available data open up prospects for further research, namely, elucidation of the structure and taxonomic composition of microbial coenoses in the rhizosphere of spring barley, which are formed under the conditions of the application of sapropel during sowing.