WATER CONSUMPTION AND YIELD OF LATE WHITE CABBAGE AGRESSOR F1 BY APPLICATION OF HUMIC FERTILIZERS ON IRRIGATED DARK CHESTNUT SOILS OF THE SARATOV TRANS-VOLGA REGION

Purpose: to study the influence of chelated humic fertilizers on water consumption and productivity of late white cabbage during sprinkling in the dry steppe of the Saratov Trans-Volga region. Materials and methods. The field experiment was conducted in 2019–2022 on dark chestnut soils. The objects of the study were the mid-late hybrid of general-purpose white cabbage Agressor F1 and chelated humic fertilizers produced by Life Force Group LLC. The study of crop water consumption, the formation of its productivity and the quality of cabbage heads were carried out on the basis of generally accepted methods. Results. It was determined that in the dry steppe zone, the total water consumption of white cabbage under irrigation maintaining soil moisture of at least 80% of the least moisture capacity is 5416 cub. m/ha, the average daily – 47.2 cub. m/ha. Foliar application with humic fertilizers ensured a more economical use of water resources without having a significant effect on water consumption of the crop: the cost of irrigation water for the formation of a unit value decreased by 6.22–15.56 % and the water consumption coefficient by 4.9–14.6 %. Spraying vegetative white cabbage plants with humic fertilizers contributed to an increase in crop productivity by 7–18 %, or 4.58–12.7 t/ha. The highest yield of marketable of cabbage heads, 81.58 t/ha, was obtained with the combined use of potassium humate and reasil forte carb-nitrogen-humic, it exceeded the control without fertilizers by 12.7 t/ha (18 %). Conclusions: an effective method for increasing the yield of one of the main vegetable crops – late white cabbage – and more economical use of water resources when grown on irrigated dark chestnut soils of the Saratov Trans-Volga region are foliar applications with chelated humic fertilizers with adaptogenic properties.