Changes in Plant and Grain Quality of Winter Oat (<i>Avena sativa</i> L.) Varieties in Response to Silicon and Sulphur Foliar Fertilisation under Abiotic Stress Conditions
Erika Kutasy,
Gerda Diósi,
Erika Buday-Bódi,
Péter Tamás Nagy,
Anteneh Agezew Melash,
Fanni Zsuzsa Forgács,
István Csaba Virág,
Attila Miklós Vad,
Bekir Bytyqi,
Tamás Buday,
József Csajbók
Affiliations
Erika Kutasy
Institute of Crop Sciences, Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences and Environmental Management, University of Debrecen, H-4032 Debrecen, Hungary
Gerda Diósi
Institute of Food Technology, Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences and Environmental Management, University of Debrecen, H-4032 Debrecen, Hungary
Erika Buday-Bódi
Institute of Water and Environmental Management, Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences and Environmental Management, University of Debrecen, H-4032 Debrecen, Hungary
Péter Tamás Nagy
Institute of Water and Environmental Management, Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences and Environmental Management, University of Debrecen, H-4032 Debrecen, Hungary
Anteneh Agezew Melash
Institute of Crop Sciences, Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences and Environmental Management, University of Debrecen, H-4032 Debrecen, Hungary
Fanni Zsuzsa Forgács
Institute of Crop Sciences, Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences and Environmental Management, University of Debrecen, H-4032 Debrecen, Hungary
István Csaba Virág
Institute of Crop Sciences, Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences and Environmental Management, University of Debrecen, H-4032 Debrecen, Hungary
Attila Miklós Vad
Institutes for Agricultural Research and Educational Farm, University of Debrecen, H-4032 Debrecen, Hungary
Bekir Bytyqi
Institute of Crop Sciences, Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences and Environmental Management, University of Debrecen, H-4032 Debrecen, Hungary
Tamás Buday
Department of Mineralogy and Geology, Institute of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Debrecen, H-4032 Debrecen, Hungary
József Csajbók
Institute of Crop Sciences, Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences and Environmental Management, University of Debrecen, H-4032 Debrecen, Hungary
In order to investigate the abiotic stress (drought) tolerance of oat (Avena sativa L.) with silicon and sulphur foliar fertilisation treatments, and monitor the effect of the treatments on the physiology, production, stress tolerance, plant, and grain quality of winter oat varieties, a field experiment was conducted in the growing season of 2020–2021. As a continuation of our article, published in another Special Issue of Plants, in this publication we evaluate the effect of silicon and sulphur treatments on the quality of winter oats. The whole grain sulphur content was significantly different between varieties. The foliar fertiliser treatments caused greater differences in both the carbon and nitrogen, and sulphur contents in the green plant samples, compared to the differences measured in the grain. Foliar treatments had a significant effect on the sulphur content of both plant samples and grains. Significant differences in the Al, Ba, Ca, Cu, Fe, K, Mn, Mo, Na, Ni, P, Pb, Sr, and Zn contents of oat grains were measured, both between treatments and between varieties. Winter oat varieties did not respond equally to the foliar fertiliser treatments in terms of either macronutrient or micronutrient content. When P, K, Ca, Mg, and S were summarised, the highest values were in the control plots. Significant differences in protein content were identified between winter oat varieties in response to the treatments, but the varieties did not respond in the same way to different foliar fertiliser treatments. Based on our results, we recommend the use of foliar fertilisation in oats in drought-prone areas.
