Efficiency of growth regulators in corn crops of the Northern Steppe of Ukraine

Abstract

The continuous increase in prices for mineral fertilisers for corn limits the use of fertilisers, which leads to the search for unconventional sources of food elements, and in particular, the use of biological natural and synthetic growth stimulators that are not harmful to the environment and allow wider use of the entire genetic potential of corn. The purpose of the study was to examine the influence of various plant growth regulators on the intensity of photosynthesis, development, growth and productivity of corn of various ripeness groups in the steppe of Ukraine. The field scientific study was conducted according to generally accepted methods of research, followed by the use of mathematical processing of experimental data using variance analysis. An increase in the chlorophyll content was identified when Avangard Grow Amino and Avangard Grow Humate preparations were applied compared to Vympel 2 and Alpha Nano Grow by 11.3-23.7%. The increase in grain from the use of growth stimulators on corn was in the early-maturing hybrid DN Pivikha – 0.13-0.37 t/ha (2.7-7.7%), mediumearly DN Khortytsia – 0.85-1.08 t/ha (16.6-18.5%), medium-maturing DN Julia – 0.20- 0.22 t/ha (3.20-3.4%), medium-late DN Olena – 0.05-0.53 t/ha (0.65-7.6%). Among the preparations used, Avangard Grow Amino and Avangard Grow Humate should be highlighted, which provided a tendency to increase the crude protein content to 6.42- 8.4%, or by 0.12-0.48 percentage points more compared to the control (3.53-4.71%), and the crude fat content to 3.73-5.52%, or by 0.20-0.81 percentage points. The use of growth stimulators in the conditions of the Northern Steppe of Ukraine on corn, especially Avangard Grow Amino and Avangard Grow Humate on early-maturing and medium-early corn hybrids, allows increasing the gross yield of high-quality grain by 7.6-18.4%