Pofitability study of the copper microelement fertilization of winter wheat

Réder, Orsolya – Csatai, Rózsa – Salamon, Lajos

Keywords: copper ion exchanged zeolite, winter wheat, profit

A significant of soil in Hungary lacks sufficient copper. Consequently, apart from the three most important macro-nutrient (N, P, K), we need to pay increasing attention to essential microelements as well, particularly copper. We therefore conducted small-parcel leaf fertilisation experiments with winter wheat, using three fertilizer formulas to supply the micro-nutrient copper (copper-amine complex, copper-carbohydrate complex and copper-amine ion exchanged synthetic zeolite) to assess their effect on the yield and profit on winter wheat. In the small-parcel experiments, different doses of the formulas were applied at two different phonological phases (tillering and florescence) for three years. The experiments indicated that fertilizing with copper as a micro-nutrient resulted in increased quality and increased yield, which in turn resulted in increased profit; the best-performing formula was copper-amine ion exchanged synthetic zeolite.
Consequently, it is recommended to apply copper-amine ion exchanged synthetic zeolite to winter wheat, at a dose of 1.56 copper kg/ha if used at tillering or at 1.35 copper kg/ha if used at florescence. When choosing the phonological phase, farmers should consider whether fertilization at florescence (which requires less fertilizer and results in better yield) or fertilization at tillering (which involves less work operations) is more favourable for them.

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