PROTEIN AND NITRATE CONTENT IN MAIZE GRAINS AND SUNFLOWER SEEDS WHEN GROWN ON SLOPEFUL LAND

Abstract

In Ukraine, about a third of all arable land is subject to water erosion. The reasons for the development of erosion processes are plowing of sloping lands with a steepness of more than 3 °, cultivation of row crops on them, mainly corn and sunflower, intensive tillage with inversion of the slice. When crops are grown on such lands, their productivity decreases significantly, but the issue of changes in nutritional value and environmental safety of products on power lands has not been studied. The research was carried out by establishing field experiments on sloping lands with the spread of weakly and moderately washed away erosion processes and growing corn and sunflower on them. Laboratory tests were conducted at the certified Research and Measurement Agrochemical Laboratory of Vinnytsia National Agrarian University. The change in protein and nitrate content in crop products depending on the slope was determined. When growing corn and sunflower on sloping lands, the highest content of protein and nitrates is observed in their products from the lower part of the slope. The lowest protein content in sunflower seeds was found in the middle part of the slope, which was 4.0% lower than in the lower part of the slope. The lowest protein content in corn grain was observed in the upper part of the slope, which was 0.3% lower than in the lower part of the slope. The lowest content of nitrates in corn grain was evident in the upper part of the slope, which was 21.0% lower than in the lower part of the slope. The lowest content of nitrates in sunflower seeds was identified in the middle part of the slope and was 20.0% lower than at the bottom of the slope.