Content and uptake of macroelements by the biomass and grain of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) grown as aftereffect

Abstract

A field study with spring barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) was conducted on the area of long-term balance experiment in Tsalapitsa village near Plovdiv (Bulgaria), on alluvial-meadow soil. Mineral fertilization was not applied to this crop in order to equalize the area regarding nutrient content. The crop grown before barley was maize with 4 variants of fertilization and one control variant: N0P0, N100Р50, N150Р100, N200Р150, and N250P200. The present study aimed to evaluate the productivity, content and uptake of macronutrients (N, P, K, Ca and Mg) with the biomass of barley, grown as aftereffect. Due to the fertilization of the previous crop, different residual amounts of nutrients in soil lead to significant variability in barley yields. The highest grain yield was obtained in variant N250P200 - 3978.8 kg/ha, approximately four times higher than the yield in the control. Nitrogen content in the grain of barley is also influenced by the variants, being the lowest in the control - 1.25%, and the highest in variants N250P200 and N200P150 - 2.13% and 2.09%, respectively. The variability of P, K, Ca and Mg contents by variants is lower. With the total biomass of barley, depending on the variants of the experiment, between 23.2 - 132.7 kg N/ha; 26.6 - 146.3 kg K/ha and 9.3 - 36.5 kg P/ha were exported from the field. A good regression relationship was found between barley grain yield and nitrogen export with the total biomass (R2 = 0.859, P≤0.001).

Keywords

• fertilization
• aftereffect
• yield
• macro elements
• uptake
• barley