Scientific Substantiation of Determination of Mineral Fertilizer Needs of the Russian Federation

The paper considers the issue of scientifically based determination of the need for mineral fertilizers to obtain various gross grain harvest in the near future. In contrast to the previously developed principles for determining the need for mineral fertilizers, a different approach is outlined, which is based on calculations not for the whole country, but for Federal Districts, since their natural and climatic conditions are very diverse. This made it possible to take into account the variability of the calculated data affecting the yield of grain crops and the effectiveness of the use of mineral fertilizers for them. First of all, this applies to the soil cover and agrochemical properties of soils. According to the data obtained, the yield of winter wheat obtained without the use of fertilizers varied from 23.2 to 34.1 c/ha, and the increase in N60 was from 11.4 to 2.2 c/ha. A more significant increase in yield was established during the transition of soils according to the degree of agrochemical cultivation from low to increased to high. The yield of winter wheat on sod-podzolic soil increases 5 times and amounts to 36.7 kg/ha. Similar data were obtained on other types of soils. The need for mineral fertilizers to produce 145–150 million tons of grain is estimated at 5.4 million tons, for 170–175 million tons – at 8.4 million tons.