Marenych M. Theoretical and practical bases of winter wheat grain yield and quality management in the conditions of the Left-Bank Forest-Steppe of Ukraine

A steady tendency to yield increase has been observed, but in experiments it is always higher as compared with production crops, which is due to uneven soil fertility and seed quality. The difference between the yield of varieties sown with the first generation of seeds (VS-1) and sowing with seeds of the second generation (VS-2) was 10.3 %. The using of base seeds (BS) increased yields by 18-33 %. Fertilizers are the most determining factor affecting the yield, however, pre-sowing seed treatment with phosphate-mobilizing preparations and humic stimulants ensures yield increase by 7.5-20.2 %. The higher the rate of fertilizer application is, the lower the increase in winter wheat grain yield is from applied growth stimulants. Pre-sowing treatment with growth stimulants and humates improves germination energy, germinating capacity, seedling weight and other biometric indicators by 7-46.3 %, and also allows more efficient management of crop production processes, especially under unfavorable conditions. It has been established that in determining the sowing time of winter wheat, primary attention should be paid not to the fixed date of conducting technological operation, but to analyze weather factors developing in a particular year. The using of large sowing rates, which are considered traditional, is inexpedient if optimized elements of crop fertilization are applied. The highest yield increase is ensured by a combination of fertilization and the maximum level of plant protection – by 13.4 %. It especially concerns the amount of weeds, which also negatively affect the formation of grain quality. The calculation of the effectiveness of applying herbicides and their mixtures shows that weed infestation is reduced by 39 %, and their using in tank mixtures with fertilizers allows increase this share to almost 55 %. Adding humates to herbicides in tank mixes can reduce the effectiveness of the latter. Using humic stimulants for foliar fertilization in mixtures with fertilizers is one of the most effective techniques to increase yields – double application of stimulant, one kilogram each time in the phase of spring tillering and earing ensured an increase of 15 hundredweight/ha or 44 %. A single application of humates contributes to the yield increase by 11.8-15.7 %. The using of 5R SoilBoost humic soil activator and foliar fertilization with 4R Foliar concentrate stimulant increases yields by 8.5-23.2 %. The analysis of economic indicators has showed that in the conditions of the Left-Bank Forest-Steppe of Ukraine, the expediency of applying tank mixes for wheat grain production was substantiated. The combined using of humates for pre-sowing seed treatment increased the profit by 3,838 UAH / ha. Differentiated foliar application of 4R Foliar Concentrate allowed to obtain the yield increase in case of applying 2 kg/ ha and get the profit of UAH 4,242, and in the variant of double application of a kilogram dose each time, the profit increased by UAH 707. 1R Seed treatment preparation in the amount of 1 l/t of seeds was the best one for pre-sowing treatment. The highest cost-effectiveness of using humates in mixtures with herbicides was recorded in the variant, in which a mixture of Prima (400 g/ha) and 4R Foliar concentrate (2 kg/ha) was used.