The thesis is devoted to the study of the content of heavy metals in vegetables
under the conditions of intensive agriculture under modern climatic changes.
The scientific novelty of the research results lies in the study of the
productivity and intensity of accumulation of heavy metals by vegetables under
different soil moisture, their mineral fertilization and the duration of their vegetation
in the modern ecological conditions of the right-bank forest-steppe.
The modern agro-ecological state of soils is characterized by various pollution
and degradation due to the intensification of the crop industry. In particular, the
minimization of crops in crop rotation, the maximum use of mineral fertilizers and
the use of means of control of weeds and plant pests leads to the accumulation of
various toxicants in the grown products, including heavy metals.
Climatic factors in modern conditions change dramatically, namely in the
conditions of the forest steppe, the temperature increased by 0.5 °C, both in summer
and in winter. Significant changes during the year are also observed with a decrease
in the amount of precipitation, but along with this, abnormally high rates falling in
a short period were noted.
Certain changes have also taken place in the technology of growing vegetable
crops, namely methods of increasing productivity, which are mainly based on the
use of high rates of mineral fertilizers and relatively few organic fertilizers. That is,
modern natural-climatic and production conditions for growing vegetables are
characterized by certain features on which both the yield and the quality of the
produced products depend. A growing level of accumulation of heavy metals in the8
soils of agricultural lands, which migrate into vegetables, reducing their quality and
safety, is of particular concern to both practitioners and scientists.
The penetration of heavy metals into the atmospheric air with industrial
emissions over time leads to their settling on the surface of the lithosphere,
contaminating the soil, thereby creating certain problems in the production of plant
products, including vegetable production. At the same time, it is necessary to note
the entry of heavy metals into the soil as a result of their use in agricultural
production, especially in crop production. Currently, in the conditions of the rightbank forest-steppe, the producers of vegetables are both individual owners and
farms in which cultivation technologies may differ to a certain extent. With this
production, it is not always possible to predict the intensity of heavy metals entering
vegetables. Therefore, growing vegetables under such conditions must be under
constant control for their quality and safety.
In the introductory part of the qualifying scientific work, the relevance of the
research topic is substantiated, the goal and task are formulated, the scientific
novelty and practical significance of the obtained results are highlighted.
The first chapter provides an analysis of domestic and foreign literary sources
related to the cultivation of vegetable products, factors that shape productivity,
quality and safety of vegetable products, characteristics of the sources of heavy
metals entering the environment and the consequences of using plant products
obtained in conditions of contamination of agricultural land with heavy metals in
food people.
In the second chapter, an analysis of the soil and climatic conditions of the
study, observation and analysis of weather conditions during the growing season of
vegetable production was carried out. Favorable and unfavorable years of crop
cultivation under the hydrothermal regime were analyzed. The studied varieties are
characterized, the research methods are described.
In the sections of the experimental directions of the dissertation describe the
results of studies on the accumulation of heavy metals and trace elements by9
vegetables under modern man-made loads, under conditions of closed soil, during
different periods of their cultivation and under different mineral fertilizers. The
ecological and economic assessment of research results is substantiated.
Research on the topic of the thesis was conducted during 2021 – 2023 on the
gray forest soils of Vinnytsia in the conditions of the right bank forest steppe.
According to the results of the study, it was established that the content of cadmium
in the gray forest soil was 0,22 mg/kg, which is 3,2 times lower than the maximum
permissible limit, but the content of this toxicant exceeded the permissible levels in
the fruits of vegetable peas by 1,6 times, while in no excess of this element was
observed in zucchini and cucumber fruits. The content of zinc and copper in the
fruits of peas, zucchini and cucumbers did not exceed the MPC.
