Efficacy of biological and chemical protection agents in barley cultivation

Krasnoyarsk Scientific Research Institute of Agriculture, a separate subdivision of the Federal Research Center “Krasnoyarsk Scientific Center of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences”, Krasnoyarsk, Svobodny avenue 66, 660041, Russian Federation

^* Corresponding author: aleksandr_bobrovski@mail.ru

Abstract

The study investigated the efficacy of biological and chemical protection agents in barley cultivation. The experiment was performed on leached chernozem soil, with four replications and 0.1 ha plot sizes. The spring barley variety ‘Oplot’ was sown using an SN-16 seeder at a rate of 4.5 million germinating seeds per hectare. The study compared three treatments: control (no protection agents), biological protection scheme, and chemical protection scheme. Pre-sowing seed treatment with biological and chemical agents reduced spore count on grain by 81.7% and 83.5%, respectively, while increasing laboratory germination rates by 12.3-13.4% compared to the control. Plant survival rates at harvest improved by 15.0% with biological agents and 16.4% with chemical agents. The technological efficacy of the chemical protectant Kolosal PRO, KME was 91.8%, while the biological agent Fitosporin-AS achieved 90.9% efficacy. Results demonstrated that both protection schemes significantly increased barley yield. The biological protection scheme yielded 2.9 t/ha (a 0.5 t/ha increase over the control), while the chemical protection scheme produced 3.1 t/ha (a 0.7 t/ha increase over the control).