Integrated application of organic fertilizers and biopreparations in grain-fallow crop rotation under organic farming conditions

At the present stage, the strategic course for the development of the agro-industrial complex, focused on the active application of the organic farming system, has been enshrine at the statutory level in the Russian Federation. In this regard, the purpose of the study was to assess the influence of organic fertilizers and biopreparations in the organic farming system on the phytosanitary conditions and crop yields of grain-fallow crop rotation in the forest-steppe conditions of the Trans-Volga region in comparison with mineral fertilizers and pesticides in the traditional farming system. Various methods of introducing biopreparations, as well as multi-component organic fertilizers based on diatomite and zeolite, were studied when using an organic farming system. The influence of organic fertilizers and biopreparations on the prevalence of root rot and brown leaf rust and the yield of grain-fallow crop rotation was studied in comparison with mineral fertilizers and pesticides. The obtained results showed that the combined use of seed pelleting and biopreparations during vegetation reduces the prevalence of root rot by an average of 44.6% for winter rye, 49.4% for hard spring wheat, and 50.5% for barley compared to the control. The reduction in the prevalence of brown leaf rust reached 46.4% for winter rye and 57.8% for hard spring wheat. The greatest increase in yield was achieved by using organic fertilizer consisting of diatomite, wood ash and organic potassium, as well as pre-sowing seed pelleting. On average, for preparations, with two treatments during the growing season, the biopreparation gave an increase in yield of 8.2–54.4% in relation to the control and 2.5–24.7% in relation to pesticides. Among agricultural crops, hard spring wheat and chickpeas turned out to be the most responsive to the biopreparation: the control indicators were exceeded by 54.4 and 47.6% (0.62 and 0.50 t/ha), and pesticides – by 20.2 and 24.7% (0.23 and 0.26 t/ha), respectively. Thus, the integrated use of multi-component, multifunctional organic fertilizers and biopreparations with bioprotection functions in the organic farming system provides an agronomic effect that is not inferior in effectiveness to the integrated use of synthetic chemical mineral fertilizers and pesticides.