THE EFFECT OF EARLY SPRING FERTILIZING WITH AMMONIUM NITRATE ON THE YIELD AND QUALITY OF WINTER WHEAT VARIETIES IN THE DRY-STEPPE ZONE OF CHESTNUT SOILS OF THE VOLGOGRAD REGION

Background. Winter wheat in the Volgograd region, as a result of the peculiarities of the climate, is the main crop, occupying up to 2 million hectares. In view of this circumstance, farms receive a significant part of their income by cultivating this particular crop. However, the excessive conservatism of agricultural producers hinders the growth of yields and, as a result, profits. It is clearly manifested in the use of winter wheat varieties introduced into the register 15-20 years ago. However, these varieties can no longer compete with new genotypes, which was the main topic of this work. In our work, we have tried to show the great effectiveness of new varieties against the background of proven agronomic techniques. This article presents the results of three-year studies of ANTS Donskoy varieties in the soil-climatic zone of chestnut soils of the Volgograd region. Taking into account the wide distribution of winter wheat varieties of this breeding center, five of the most promising, from our point of view, varieties were selected in order to find out the peculiarities of crop formation in these conditions against the background without and with the use of ammonium nitrate. The purpose of the research in the dry-steppe zone of chestnut soils was to select winter wheat varieties that respond most effectively to the use of early spring nitrogen fertilizers. Methods and means. The experiment was conducted 2018-2021 in the Oktyabrsky district of the Volgograd region. On the lands of the farm "Kirsanov S.M.". Observations and records were carried out according to the methodology used by the FGBNU "State Transport Commission". Results. The autumn period of plant development had a significant impact on the components forming the yield. Thus, the density of the productive stem in a year with adverse weather conditions was 68-72 pcs/m2 less than in a year with good moisture in the autumn period against a background without fertilizers and 64-82 pcs/m2 against a background with the introduction of ammonium nitrate in early spring. The best results for this indicator were in the varieties Don Steppe and Lydia – 358 pcs. / m2 on a windless background. The beauty of the Don and the Don Steppe – 433 and 417 pcs / m2 on the background with fertilizer. In the course of observations, there were no significant differences in the weight of 1000 seeds among winter wheat varieties, but the use of fertilizers led to an increase in this indicator by 6-8%. The varieties tested showed good yields for this soil-climatic zone. Thus, the average yield against the background without fertilizers was 3.15 t/ha. The differentiation of varieties by this indicator was also noticeable. The Don Steppe and Lydia varieties formed a yield of 3.31 t/ha, which significantly exceeded the yield of the Ermak variety – 2.77 t/ha, which acted as a control. The introduction of ammonium nitrate on crops significantly improved the yield index. The average yield at the test site was 3.75 t/ha. The leading varieties – the Beauty of the Don and the Don Steppe formed yields at the level of 3.94 and 3.92 t/ha, respectively. What is whiter than 0.6 t/ha is more than the control variety Ermak – 3.3 t/ha.