No 6 (2024)

The aim of the work was to study the effect of various fertilization technologies on the processes of growth, synthesis of photosynthetic pigments, nodule formation and the dynamics of changes in their nitrogenase activity in different varieties of lupine (white and narrow-leaved). The emphasis in the work was shifted to the additional positive effect obtained from the introduction of a liquid extract of black soldier fly zoohumus (Hermetia illucens) into the lupine-rhizobial agrocenosis. According to the biomass indicators, it was found that narrow-leaved lupine was more responsive to the organo-microbial effect, the increase in which, on average, by variants amounted to 36%, compared to the control. On white lupine, it reached only 9%. It should be noted that in terms of vegetative biomass accumulation, white lupine prevailed over narrow-leaved lupine in all experimental variants by an average of 3 times. However, with a relatively small increase in weight, narrow-leaved lupine showed an increased synthesis of total chlorophyll. On average, the increase in it from the effect of the organomicrobial consortium was 19%. Regarding the values of symbiotic activity, a positive effect of zoohumus was recorded against the background of inoculation, which was reflected in an increase in the number, weight and nitrogenase activity of formed nodules in the vegetation phases. A direct correlation was found between these indicators. The highest peak in fixation for both species occurred at the budding phase, amounting to 17 059 C₂H₄ /g^–1 h^–1 nmol for white lupine and 2719 C₂H₄ /g^–1 h^–1 for narrow-leaved lupine. As both lupine species matured, the number of nodules decreased and the process of symbiotic nitrogen fixation decreased. The results obtained indicate a positive effect of H. illucens zoohumus on the studied indicators and allow us to recommend the use of its liquid extracts in lupine cultivation.

The cultivation of Medicago varia Mart., which helps to increase the quantity and quality of harvested voluminous feed, in northern conditions is limited by a number of factors: a short growing season, uneven precipitation, increased soil acidity, etc. The result of breeding work was varieties of alfalfa varia, capable of providing sustainable forage yield and high productive longevity. The article presents the results of a comparative study of single-species crops of alfalfa varieties Pastbishchnaya 88 and Agnia, as well as their phytocenoses with timothy grass (Phleum pratense L.) variety Olonetskaya local in the conditions of the Republic of Karelia. According to average long-term data, single-species sowing of the Agnia variety exceeds the dry mass yield of the control variant by 1.7 t/ha, in a grass mixture with timothy – 0.8 t/ha.

A study was carried out of the yield and elements of the productivity structure of 32 varieties of hexaploid triticale of various origins from the world collection of VIR. The work was carried out at the Dagestan OS – a branch of VIR, located in the southern flat zone of the Republic of Dagestan. For a comparative study, wheat varieties Nika Kubani and Tanya were used. The study showed that the studied triticale varieties exceeded wheat varieties in terms of such characteristics as: yield, ear length, number of spikelets, grains and grain weight per ear and 1000 grains. However, according to some indicators that determine potential yield, triticale is inferior to wheat – the number of productive stems and the number of grain-free flowers per ear. Based on a complex of economically valuable traits, triticale varieties were identified: PRAGi – 494, 415/3, 479, 468, 483/1, 470/1 and 473/2 (Dagestan), Presto 401 (Poland), Newton (France), TSW 2507 (Germany), which can be recommended as a source material in practical breeding work when creating new varieties with high productivity.

The article presents the results of studies on the effect of the combined use of microbiological fertilizers and microelements on the formation of the photosynthetic and symbiotic apparatus, the size and structure of the yield, the chemical composition and quality of soybean seeds, carried out on leached chernozems in the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic foothills zone. The use of microbiological fertilizers and microelements as preparations for pre-sowing treatment of soybean seeds increases the weight of active nodules by 46.7–61.0 kg / ha, the active symbiotic potential – 2.4–2.8 thousand units, the amount of fixed atmospheric nitrogen by the symbiotic soybean system – 36.1–40.1 kg / ha. In 2022, the maximum number of nodules, including active ones, was formed in the Fon + Ultrastim® variant, the smallest – in the control. In 2023 which was less moisture-rich for nodule formation, the maximum number of nodules was in the Background + ATUVA® variant. Creating optimal conditions for biological nitrogen fixation (Background + ATUVA®) increases the area of soybean leaves by 14.1 thousand m²/ha, photosynthetic potential is 72.7 thousand units, dry matter accumulation is 1.84 t/ha, seed yield – 1.33 t/ha. The microbiological fertilizers and microelements application (Background + ATUVA®) increases the nitrogen content in the vegetative and generative organs of soybeans throughout the growing season, increases the nitrogen accumulation by seeds by 36.1–40.1 kg/ha, the share of atmospheric nitrogen in plant nutrition – 42–50%; the protein content in seeds is 1.1%, while the collection of protein with soybean seeds increases by 479 kg.

The influence of different technological methods of planting and care of potatoes is studied, the values of plant development, photosynthesis, formation of productivity and yield at cultivation of new potato varieties of Kamchatka selection is established in order to improve the existing technology. The recommended methods of planting and plant care have a direct impact on the formation of assimilative surface of potato leaves. The greatest assimilative surface of leaves was formed in the flowering phase, at planting with and without soil rolling and ridge formation at care, the increase to the controlled variant was on average for varieties: Fresco – 7,9 thousand m²/ha (17,6%), Geyser – 4,5 thousand m²/ha (10,0%), Vulkan – 3,2 thousand m²/ha (8,6%). The same pattern is observed during the period of mass sprouting, in the variety Fresco assimilative surface of leaves increased to the controlled variant by 4.5 thousand m²/ha (37.5%), Geyser – 2.5 thousand m²/ha (20.8%), Vulkan – 2.5 thousand m²/ha (23.8%). In terms of net photosynthetic productivity, we note an increase of 16.9% on average, depending on the variety, in comparison with the controlled variant in the way with planting with soil rolling and ridge formation during maintenance. On the same variant we note an increase to controlled variant photosynthetic potential of potato plantings on the variety Fresco – 22.2%, Geyser – 15.3%; Vulkan – 13.3% and dry biomass – 7.5 t/ha (40.9%), 7.1 t/ha (32.6%), 6.5 t/ha (36.7%), respectively. The future yield of potatoes depends on the formation of leaf surface, on variants with soil rolling and ridge formation in the care of potato plants noted a stable increase in yield on average for three years 3.4–4.1 t/ha or 11.6–13.7% compared to the current technology.

Apple is the main fruit crop in the European part of Russia. Quince is a promising crop as a valuable low-growing rootstock for pears. The most favorable conditions for growing pome crops (apple and common quince) are in the Central and Central Black Earth regions (Voronezh, Tula, Lipetsk, Kursk, Belgorod, Oryol, Ryazan and Tambov regions). Currently, there is a wide variety of varieties and rootstocks (of various selections) for apple and pear trees, but choosing more adaptive ones for each ecological-geographical zone in intensive gardening is considered relevant. The studies were carried out on the basis of VNIISPK in 2018–2023. Apple cultivars of VNIISPK breeding and foreign cultivars grafted on rootstock 54-118 as well as common quince of VNIISPK breeding selected according to a complex of valuable economically useful characteristics were used as objects of study. The research of the presented work was carried out on the basis of the methodological recommendations “Programs and methods for the variety study of fruit, berry and nut crops” and “Methods for the accelerated assessment of winter hardiness of fruit and berry plants”. Severe frosts occur in the Central region of Russia (Orel region) in winter (January-February). Over the past five years, the lowest air temperature was recorded in the winter of 2020/2021, when in February it dropped to minus 30°C. In the field, the studied apple cultivars on the clone rootstock 54-118 showed sufficient winter hardiness. As a result of freezing of annual branches in laboratory conditions, it was revealed that Ligol (the Polish cultivar) and the VNIISPK cultivars Orlovsky Partizan, Vyatich, Orlovskoe Polesie and Pamyat Semakinu had bud and wood damage according to all I, II, III components of winter hardiness. The most winter-hardy cultivar Rozhdestvenskoe of VNIISPK breeding stood out. In VNIISPK, seedlings of common quince with high winter hardiness of the aboveground and root systems adapted to the climatic conditions of the central part of Russia and possessing restrained growth have been identified. Studies have shown that these quince seedlings being in deep dormancy can withstand frosts up to -36°C and are able to tolerate a decrease in temperature in the zone of the root layer up to -10°C without significant damage.

The article presents the results of stress protection of seeds and plants of spring wheat and barley of zoned varieties for the 3rd agro-climatic zone of the Russian Federation. The research was carried out in 2018–2022 in 2 stages: the first was a series of laboratory experiments at the departments of breeding, seed production and Agrotechnology of the Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Education, the second was field experiments on gray forest soils of average fertility in an agricultural enterprise named after him. Krupskaya Ryazan region. The algorithm of complex stress protection included a sequential cascade of interrelated agrotechnological techniques: a) a method for selecting the most resistant batches of seeds to ethylene stress for sowing purposes, b) a method for stress protection and increasing the germination of these seeds during post-harvest storage, c) pre-sowing seed treatment and d) plants IV-V stages of organogenesis with multifunctional growth regulators with anti-stress properties (Albite, TPS; Zircon,R; Epin-Extra,R), prolonging the effect of plant protection in critical phases of plant growth and development. During all 5 years of research, which were contrasting in meteorological conditions, the use of seeds with increased stress resistance and functional activity for sowing contributed, on average, to a stable increase in field germination of spring wheat by 2.8–10.6%, barley – 4.2–7.2%, increased shoot formation in the tillering phase of spring wheat by 0.12–0.23 and barley 0.16–0.25% of plants. These processes were most pronounced in spring wheat, in years with increased drought. The plant variants of complex stress protection were characterized by higher photosynthesis productivity, leaf surface index and terrestrial phytomass. A set of techniques that block the development of stress from the initial stages of ontogenesis to the formation of reproductive organs intensified plant growth, provided a higher level of accumulation of productivity resources, contributed to an increase in grain yields of spring wheat and barley, depending on the experimental options, by 0.48–0.62 t/ha and 0.31–0.39 t/ha, respectively. The increase in yield in all the years of the study, when using anti-stress protection, was due to an increase in the number of productive stems, a higher full-weight ear and a weight of 1000 grains. The applied stress protection methods fully meet the requirements of the production of environmentally friendly products and can be used as an element of technology in the production of organic crop products.

All related research was conducted from 2010 to 2022 in the Belgorod region, located in the south-west of the Central Chernozem region (CCR). The goal of this study was to analyze the effects of introducing agriculturally biologized elements into arable soils on the organic matter content of those same soils. It was determined, that compared to their virgin counterparts, unwashed arable chernozems, typical and leached, had lost about 39.8–42.0% of their organic matter due to long-term agricultural use. In comparison to 2010–2014, the level of organic fertilizer input had doubled to 9,6 t/ha in 2019–2022, while the area of green manure cultures had increased by a factor of 2.56 to 317 thousand ha/year. Concurrently to the aforementioned years, the by-product output increased by 18.8–37.6% (depending on the crop), reaching levels between 2.07–10.3 t/ha, due to an increase in agricultural yield. The area of ley farms decreased by a factor of 2.73 down to 47.1 thousand ha/year. Additionally, a wide percentage of the Belgorod region have implemented low tillage technology usage, including no-till and executed complex anti-erosion activities. As a result of that, in 2019–2022, the average content of organic matter in the arable layer of soils went up by 0.3% (to 5.3%), while reserve by 9 t/ha (to 159 t/ha). Each hectare of the cultivated areas on average accumulated 19 carboxylic units, thereby making it worth about 19 thousand rubles. The percentage of soils, which contain 6.1–8.0% of organic matter, rose to 20.0%, while those containing 2.1–4.0%, were reduced to 10.9%.

The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of various preparations on the microbiological activity of the soil and the yield of spring wheat under unstable weather conditions. Spring wheat was grown on sod-podzolic light loamy soil. The years of the study differed in moisture supply, taking into account the values of the hydrothermal coefficient: 2020 – excessively moistened, 2021 – dry, 2022 – optimal. A humic preparation (HP) and a microbial biopreparation (BP) were used for pre-sowing seed treatment (at the rate of 20 l of a working solution of HP or BP of 1% concentration per 1 ton of seeds), for double foliar treatment of plants in the tillering and heading phases (HP – at the rate of 1 l / ha, BP – 3 l / ha, the consumption rate of working solutions is 300 l / ha) and when combining the above methods. During the tillering phase, a statistically significant increase in the number of dominant microorganisms was observed in the variants with seed treatment with preparations: in 2020 – by 25.4 and 53.3% in the case of using HP and BP, respectively, in 2022 – by 51.8 and 43.9%. During the heading phase, the effect was weaker – 21.6 and 23.5%. On average, over three years, the maximum effect from the use of HP was observed in the dry year of 2021: an increase in the number of microorganisms amounted to 59.3–94.2%, and the yield increase was 13.0% and 13.9%, respectively, for variants with pre-sowing seed treatment and foliar treatment of plants, the greatest increase was obtained from combining these methods – 17.3%. BP was most effective in the year of excess moisture – the number of microorganisms increased by 50.8–84.7%, and the maximum increase in wheat yield (15%) was obtained from combining seed and plant treatment methods.

The black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) is a promising and promising source of animal feed due to its high protein and fat content. For this reason, in 2023, by decision of the Government of the Russian Federation, it was included in the list of agricultural products. Currently, the active use of molecular genetic analysis methods for agricultural purposes continues, including for the study of feed and feed additives. However, today there is too little data in the domestic literature on their use against the black soldier fly. Thus, there is almost no information about DNA extraction methods – the very first stage of any genetic analysis. Thus, the purpose of this study is to compare the effectiveness of existing DNA extraction methods and adapt them to work with Hermetia illucens larvae. In this study, several DNA extraction methods were tested, based on different lysing (SDS, guanidine thiocyanate, CTAB) and chelating (EDTA) agents, as well as lysis durations (1, 2, 3 hours), in comparison with a commercial kit. As a result, it was found that the highest DNA concentration (750 ng/μl) is achieved using the CTAB method, however, when using this protocol, additional purification is necessary. The combined action of SDS and high concentrations of EDTA results in a lower DNA yield (50ng/µl), but does not require additional purification. For the first time, a method based on guanidine thiocyanate was used, which turned out to be quite relevant for this object of study. All of the above methods resulted in comparable or higher DNA yield compared to the commercial GMO-SORB-B kit. Increasing the lysis time to 3 hours when using methods based on guanidine thiocyanate and CTAB leads to increased DNA concentration.

The results of research on the effect of extruded wheat bran and calcium carbonate on amino acid and fatty acid composition of muscle tissue of broiler chickens are presented. It was found that the combination of extruded bran with 10 and 15% calcium carbonate led to an increase in saturated fatty acids and monounsaturated fatty acids against the background of changes in the amino acid profile, in particular, a decrease in the content of essential amino acids. Similar changes were revealed at introduction of extruded bran with calcium carbonate at a dosage of 25%. At the same time, according to the revealed effects, the optimal dosage of calcium carbonate introduction into a part of extruded bran is 20%, Ca3 group.

The article presents the first rank-based, complex scientific development in Russian rabbit breeding. The results of the new rabbit breed creation are given on the basis of rational use of the genetic potential of White Giant rabbits and its improvement. New ways of estimating bucks and does based on a complex of features and modern molecular-genetic methods were developed for the accelerated creation of a new rabbit population. The first of its kind were rank-based evaluation according to rabbits’ maternal instinct, rank-based evaluation according to the rabbits’ complex of maternal traits (maternal instinct, fertility, the number of raised rabbits to weaning, the number of teats, lactation, and the live weight of the litter at birth and weaning), and rank-based evaluation according to the bucks traits complex, which included the reproductive qualities assessment, reproductive ability of mated does, and the micronucleus test’s assessment of the bucks genome stability. The multi-year selection results led to the creation of the new Russian rabbit breed, Velikorodskaya White, which can replace imports. The economic reason for the creation of the highly productive Russian rabbit breed is to ensure the independence of Russian farmers from the supply of imported breeding material.

The article presents the results of a long-term study (since 2006) of the breeding of blood-sucking midges breeding characteristics (Diptera, Simuliidae) in the rivers of the Tyumen region south. The studies allowed us to identify the breeding sites of four species belonging to four genera of blood-sucking midges are bioindicators Byssodon maculatus Mg., Cnetha verna Rubz., Schoenbaueria pusilla Rub., Boophthora erythrocephala D.G. Where the rare ones are Cnetha verna Rubz. and Boophthora erythrocephala D.G. The density of larvae and pupae in the habitat is insignificant is 5–20 pcs./dm². Single individuals of the above species were found in the Tura River, which indicates pollution of the reservoir. Due to their high sensitivity to changes in the environment, midges are promising objects for bioindication studies.

The article describes a method for experimental studies of a separation system with thermal energy for cleaning a machine for harvesting root crops and potatoes under conditions of increased soil moisture up to 27%, represented by a rod elevator and a cleaning star. The self-propelled combine harvester VARITRON 470 is equipped with this system. When equipping it, a developed deflector system for supplying exhaust gases from the power plant to the rod elevator and cleaning star was used. Field research was carried out in the Penza region in the fields of the IP Bodyagin V.I. The research results allow us to assert the possibility of increasing the forward speed of a rod elevator as a result of improving the quality of cleaning of commercial products, eliminating the possibility of mechanical impurities sticking to the grate bars of a rod elevator. The main patterns of changes in the quality indicators of the developed separating system are determined, indicating that the completeness of separation of commercial products is 95.8% when finding the optimal values of the factors under consideration: the distance between the rod elevator and the deflector S_Д = 160 mm and the forward speed of the rod elevator v_Д = 1.6 m/s.