Effect of fertilizer application on yield and elemental composition of maize in the western region of Ukraine

The results of the study on the effect of fertilization on the productivity and elemental composition of maize plants in the Precarpathian region of Ukraine are presented.Application of the mineral fertilizer N 90 P 90 K 90 significantly increased yield -on average up to 5.74 t/ha, which is + 0.93 t/ha or +19.3% compared to the control.This was the most effective treatment among all those studied.It was found that the highest phosphorus and potassium contents in maize leaves and roots were observed in the variant with the application of Intermag Titan.The treatments with mineral fertilizers and humates showed intermediate values.This indicates that titanium fertilizer promotes the uptake of phosphorus and potassium by maize plants from the soil, while humates are a strong source of potassium.Under the application of mineral fertilizer at N 90 P 90 K 90 , the potassium content was the highest, amounting to 1205 mg/100 g in leaves, 1362 mg/100 g in stems, and 725 mg/100 g in grains.It is worth noting that in maize leaves, the highest aluminium content (96 mg/100 g) was recorded with the application of mineral fertilizers, while the other three treatments showed approximately the same level.The highest calcium content was observed in the treatment with Intermag Titan (1557 mg/100 g), whereas the lowest calcium levels were recorded in the mineral fertilizer treatment (824 mg/100 g) and in the control (830 mg/100 g).However, these two treatments demonstrated the highest zinc content -1182 and 358 mg/100 g, respectively, which is 98% higher compared to treatments 3 and 4. The chromium content in maize roots was the highest in the treatment with the application of Black Jack KS (58 mg/100 g), which was almost ten times greater compared to the plants in the other treatments.This result can be explained by its application in combination with fertilizers.