Electronic Journal of Polish Agricultural Universities (EJPAU) founded by all Polish Agriculture Universities presents original papers and review articles relevant to all aspects of agricultural sciences. It is target for persons working both in science and industry,regulatory agencies or teaching in agricultural sector. Covered by IFIS Publishing (Food Science and Technology Abstracts), ELSEVIER Science - Food Science and Technology Program, CAS USA (Chemical Abstracts), CABI Publishing UK and ALPSP (Association of Learned and Professional Society Publisher - full membership). Presented in the Master List of Thomson ISI.
2005
Volume 8
Issue 2
Topic:
Agronomy
ELECTRONIC
JOURNAL OF
POLISH
AGRICULTURAL
UNIVERSITIES
Prusiński J. , Kaszkowiak E. 2005. EFFECT OF TITANIUM ON YELLOW LUPIN YIELDING (Lupinus luteus L.), EJPAU 8(2), #36.
Available Online: http://www.ejpau.media.pl/volume8/issue2/art-36.html

EFFECT OF TITANIUM ON YELLOW LUPIN YIELDING (LUPINUS LUTEUS L.)

Janusz Prusiński1, Ewa Kaszkowiak2
1 Department of Agrotechnology, Faculty of Agriculture and Biotechnology, UTP University of Science and Technology, Bydgoszcz, Poland
2 Department of Plant Cultivation, University of Technology and Life Sciences in Bydgoszcz, Poland

 

ABSTRACT

A strict two-factor field experiment was set up as a randomized complete block design over 2000-2002 at the Experimental Station of the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Technology and Agriculture, at Mochełek, and involved a traditional yellow lupin cultivar, `Idol´, whose plants were sprayed with Tytanit preparation, containing 46% of Ti. The first factor covered the following objects: three spraying dates: single spraying after blossom fall, double spraying - after blossom fall and 7-10 days later and triple spraying - after blossom fall, 7-10 days later and then 7-10 days later. The second factor involved the following objects of Tytanit concentration: 0.02, 0.04 and 0.06%. The plots which were not sprayed constituted the control. Throughout the research years there was observed a significant effect of Tytanit on 7.4-18% increased yellow lupin seed yield. Tytanit did not show a significant effect on the structural components of the seed yield from the main stem; its application resulted in a significant, as compared with the control, increase in the number of pods and seeds as well as in the seed weight from branches. As for yellow lupin yielding, the optimal solution seems to be offered by a double application of 0.02-0.04% of Tytanit straight after plant blossom fall and 7-10 days later.

Key words: titanium, yellow lupin, plant productivity.

INTRODUCTION

A considerable biological progress in lupin growing [15] of the last years concerns self-completing forms, showing a high potential of photosynthetic productivity and a higher value of, as compared with the traditional forms, harvest index [10]. Despite introducing the cultivation of self-completing forms, in practice, however, there still dominate cultivars of an undetermined type of growth [4], in which over an intensive growth, inflorescences and pod settings appear on the main stem and branches. It is over that time the generative organs obtain less than 10% of assimilates, while the other 90% reaches the growing shoot apex [6]. Along with upper whorls flowering, there is a growing competition between respective generative organs, where lower inflorescences and pods formed from proximal flowers dominate [1]. Over the development of pods, their nitrogen requirements are so big that the plant is not able to supply adequate quantities through the root system, which can be the reason of pod shedding, most of all in distal inflorescence positions, which can affect as much as over 90% of all the flowers [6], which is partially due to competition for the source of energy inside the plant between the nitrogen and carbon metabolism [9].

Over the last years there has been a growing interest in titanium, representing precious metals, showing a high ability to absorb gasses. The upper layer of the earth crust contains an average of 0.33% of titanium, in Poland - 0.19% [8], while the content of titanium in crops ranges from trace quantities to over 120 mg per kg of dry matter [3]. In Poland already before the second world war Terlikowski and Górnicki [16] noted that papilionaceous plants contained 20-28 mg of Ti per kg of dry matter.

Titanium has a favorable effect on the intensity of fixing nitrogen from the air by bacteria living on papilionaceous plants roots [5] and on the plant growth and development by activating the metabolic processes. It also stimulates pollination, fertilization, fruit and seed setting and increases their yield, thus enhancing the seed quality [7,11]. The yield of plants sprayed with a preparation containing ions of titanium increased by as much as 10-20%, while in some experiments involving apple tree, corn and sugar beet - by as much as 30% [12], and the content of chlorophyll - by 15-65% [11]. Especially high pea seed yield increases, even up to 60%, were obtained following the seed dressing with the Tytanit preparation, however in bean the yield increase was a few per cent only [7]. The Polish market offers a number of different foliar microelement fertilizers, including Plonwit K, Agrowital K, Ekosol, Insol, Wuxal, Florowit, Ekolist etc., which usually include titanium.

The present working hypothesis assumes that obtaining high yields of yellow lupin seeds depends on the efficiency of symbiosis and the availability of assimilates over a decreasing photosynthesis efficiency and increasing nutrient requirements of plants over seed filling. At that time, the application of titanium, a photosynthesis activator, should show a favorable effect on the number of pods per plant, seed weight per pod and per plant, and so the structural yielding components which most considerably affect the plant productivity. The aim of the present research was to determine the effect of various concentrations of Tytanit applied at different times after plant blossom fall on yellow lupin yielding.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

A strict two-factor field experiment was set up as a randomized complete block design over 2000-2002 at the Experimental Station of the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Technology and Agriculture, at Mochełek and involved a traditional yellow lupin cultivar, `Idol´, sown in four replications on 18 m2 plots (14.4 m2 harvest area) and whose plants were sprayed with the Tytanit preparation, containing 46% of Ti. The first factor covered the following objects: three spraying dates: single spraying after blossom fall, double spraying - after blossom fall and 7-10 days later and triple spraying - after blossom fall, 7-10 days later and then 7-10 days later. The second factor involved the following objects of Tytanit concentration: 0.02, 0.04 and 0.06%. The plots which were not sprayed constituted the control.

The experiment was set up in the 3rd - 4th year after cereals on lessive soil, formed from moraine clay, of a good structure and of regulated water-air relations. According to the soil valuation classification, it represented IVb class, and as for as the agricultural soil suitability - a good rye complex soil. The mechanical composition and cultivation properties of the soil were not diversified. Over the research year the content of organic substance in the arable layer ranged from 1.1 to 1.2%, and silt and clay fraction - from 14 to 17%. The soil richness in available potassium was low, and phosphorus - medium; slightly acid reaction. In spring 80 kg of P2O5 was applied in a form of 46% triple granulated superphosphate and 110 kg of K2O in a form of 57% potassium salt; no nitrogen was applied.

The sowing material of yellow lupin came from ZD IHAR at Przebędowo and each time it was dressed with Sarfun T 60 (20% carbendazim + 45% tiuram) at the dose of 200 g per 100 kg of seeds. The experiment was set up on, respectively, April 3, April 4 and April 3, each time sowing 100 germinating seeds per 1 m2. After sowing Afalon 50WP was applied at the dose of 1.25 dm3.ha-1, and by row closing - 2-3-time harrowing of the stands took place. After and before flowering Sarfun 500 SC was applied (500 g carbendazim in 1 dm3) at the dose of 0.7 l.ha-1 against anthracnose.

The structural yellow lupin yield components, namely the number of pods and seeds and the seed weights from the main stem, branches and per plant, were determined for 20 randomly sampled plants from each plot. In the laboratory of the Department of Plant Cultivation the contents of total N in the dry matter of seeds were defined following the Kjeldahl method. The seed yield structure according to the seed thickness was determined using sieves with the sorter offered by the Bydgoszcz Baking Industry Company, for 500 g samples in four replications.

The results were statistically verified using the AWAR package obtained from the Department of Research Methodology and Computer Science of the Institute of Cultivation Fertilisation and Soil Sciences in Puławy. Variance analysis was applied for completely randomized blocks with the control. To evaluate the significance of differences across objects the Tukey test was applied at α = 0.05. Comparing the effect of the Tytanit doses and dates against the control the Dunnet test was used, and the results are expressed in percent.

RESULTS

The weather conditions over the research years, especially the moisture conditions, varied considerably (Table 1). In 2000 the total rainfall for April (36% of the multi-year mean), May (70%) and June (36%) was only slightly over 58 mm. The plants started flowering as early as at the beginning of the third decade of May after reaching the height of 20 cm only. In 2001 very high air temperatures from May through the end of August, accompanied by favorable rainfall conditions, facilitated high plant yielding. In 2002 a luxuriant vegetative growth of plants was recorded due to very high rainfall in May. Its shortage in June did not have a greater effect on the course of flowering and pod setting. To sum up, over the three research years the total rainfall from the beginning of April to the end of September was sufficient for yellow lupin (275, 476 and 367 mm), however the rainfall distribution differed significantly affecting the date of the beginning of plant flowering, length of that stage and of the vegetation period as a whole, less considerably differentiating the abundance of flowering. Over successive research years the main lupin stem recorded 32.3; 37.1 and 36.1, while branches - 36.9; 32 and 30.2 flowers. The course of air temperature over plant flowering in June did not differ over the successive research years, while in July over seed filling the most favorable conditions were noted in 2001.

Table 1. Mean air temperature and total rainfall according to the Mochełek Experimental Station

Specification

Year

Month

IV

V

VI

VII

VIII

IX

Mean air temperature, °C

2000 2001 2002

11.0
7.0
7.5

14.5
13.1
15.7

16.7
16.6
16.3

15.7
20.3
18.9

17.3
17.5
19.9

11.7
11.2
12.9

Multi-year mean

8.5

14.4

16.5

18.3

18.2

11.9

Total rainfall, mm

2000
2001
2002

14.6
42.4
17.7

24.6
34.9
111.5

19.1
80.5
31.3

100.9
146.1
77.9

58.4
49.7
58.0

57.8
122.6
70.5

Multi-year mean

24.9

57.0

43.6

108.3

55.3

83.6

In the Centre for Cultivar Testing (COBORU) experiments reported for the last few years yellow lupin yields were a little lower than 2 t.ha-1, and so the present results obtained for `Idol´ traditional cultivar should be considered as very good; the mean multi-year seed yield, despite the extreme rainfall conditions of 2000, ranged from 1.92 t.ha-1 for the control to an average of 2.14 t.ha-1 following the application of Tytanit (Table 2). Throughout the research years Tytanit showed a significant effect on the increase in the mean yellow lupin seed yield, from 186 kg.ha-1 (by 7.29% as compared with the control) for the 2002, which was very favorable as far as hydro-thermal conditions are concerned, to 225-228 kg.ha-1 (18.0-11.5%) over 2000-2001 (Fig. 1). An average straw yield ranged from 3.82 t.ha-1 for the control objects to 3.70 t.ha-1 following the application of Tytanit, however the effect of hydro-thermal conditions on the vegetative weight of lupin over the research years was much greater than that of plant spraying with Tytanit.

Table 2. Effect of Tytanit on yellow lupin seed yield, t·ha-1

Number of Tytanit sprayings

Tytanit concentration, %

Mean

0.02

0.04

0.06

Single

2.14

2.14

2.06

2.11 a

Double

2.19

2.15

2.14

2.16 a

Triple

2.19

2.09

2.13

2.14 a

Mean

2.17 A

2.13 A

2.11 A

2.14 X

Control

1.92 Y

Means followed by the same lower-case letters in columns and capital ones in rows did not differ significantly at α = 0.05; differences between mean and control are marked as XY

Over the successive research years a significant increase in the seed yield was recorded following the application of 0.06% Tytanit after a single, double and triple plant spraying in 2000, 0.04% - after a single and 0.02% - after two treatments in 2001 and 0.02% - after a single and triple spraying in 2002 (Fig. 2).

Fig. 1. Effect of Tytanit on the yellow lupin seed and straw yield

Fig. 2. Effect of the Tytanit dose and application date on yellow lupin yielding

Tytanit did not show a significant effect on the development of the structural components of the seed yield from the main stem (Table 3). The 1000 seed weight only obtained from the plants treated with Tytanit was significantly higher than that of the untreated plants. However the number of pods and seeds on branches and the seed weight per lupin plant were significantly higher than for the control plants and the plant as a whole. Over the successive research years the most favorable effect on the number of pods on branches was recorded for Tytanit applied once at the concentration of 0.04% (2000 and 2001), and twice - at the concentration of 0.06% throughout the research years (Fig. 3). An even more favorable effect of Tytanit was noted on the number of seeds formed on branches, especially in 2001 and 2002 (Fig. 4). As compared with the control, the highest increases in the number of seeds on lupin branches were recorded following the single application of 0.04% Tytanit in 2000 and 2001, as well as double and triple plant spraying with 0.02 and 0.06% Tytanit in 2002. The seed weight from branches increased by more than 300% due to a single application of 0.04% Tytanit over 2000 and 2001, as well as a double and triple plant spraying with 0.02 and 0.06% Tytanit in 2002 (Fig. 5).

Table 3. Yellow lupin seed yield components following the Tytanit application

Specification

Per main stem

On branches

Per plant

Control

Tytanit

Control

Tytanit

Control

Tytanit

Number of pods

8.94a

9.86a

0.95b

1.65a

9.87b

11.4a

Number of seeds

30.3a

34.0a

1.87b

3.69a

32.2b

37.4a

Seed weight, g

3.58b

4.35a

0.27b

0.51a

3.85b

4.84a

Seed weight per pod, g

0.40a

0.44a

0.29a

0.30a

-

-

1000 seed weight, g

118b

128a

144a

138a

120a

129a

Means followed by the same lower-case letters did not differ significantly at α = 0.05

Fig. 3. Effect of the Tytanit dose and application date on the number of pods formed on branches of a single yellow lupin plant

Fig. 4. Effect of the Tytanit dose and application date on the number of seeds formed on branches of a single yellow lupin plant

Fig. 5. Effect of the Tytanit dose and application date on the weight of seeds formed on branches of a single yellow lupin plant

An average content of protein in lupin seeds ranged from 40.8% for the experimental plots to 41.1% for the control seeds and depended significantly on neither the Tytanit application date nor the concentration (data not presented). A greater effect on the accumulation of protein was shown for weather conditions over successive years; the greatest content of protein (42.8 %) was recorded for the seeds collected in 2002, and the lowest - in 2001 (38.9 %).

Fig. 6. Effect of the hydro-thermal conditions over successive research years on the structure of yellow lupin seed thickness

Neither was there recorded a significant effect of the Tytanit doses and application date on the structure of seed thickness (Fig. 6), which differed over successive research years. In 2000 there was recorded the greatest number of seeds 5-5.5 mm thick, while over the other two years seeds 4-5 mm thick dominated.

DISCUSSION

Yellow lupin shows low soil requirements and is most successful on good rye complex soils, where high seed yields can be obtained which, over the last years, according to reports by COBORU [4], accounted for 2.25 t.ha-1. In the present research yellow lupin yield was 2.16 t.ha-1, mainly due to the low yields of 2000 as a result of very unfavorable rainfall distribution. The yellow lupin yielding potential measured as a number of flowers formed was similar over successive years of the present research, however the following yields were recorded: 1.25; 1.97 and 2.55 t.ha-1, respectively, which still shows a very considerably effect of hydro-thermal conditions on the plants using its yielding potential [9,13,15].

Over the last few years there has been a growing interest in foliar fertilizer called Tytanit, produced by INTERMAG based in Olkusz [2]. It was observed that the fertilizer increases the content of chlorophyll in the leaves and enhances the resistance to fungal and bacterial diseases as well as accelerates the growth and leaf development, enhancing the yielding of many plants [11,12]. Tytanit is mostly applied to growing of vegetables. It was shown that a triple cucumber plant spraying with 0.02% Tytanit resulted in as much as 100% increase in the number of seeds [2]. Pea seed dressing with titanium gave a very high, as much as 60%, pea seed yield increase due to an increased number of pods and only a few-percent increase in bean due to an increased pod weight [7]. The present research investigated the effect of plant spraying with Tytanit on the yielding and structural components of the yield from the main stem and from branches. In the first case there was recorded no significant effect of Tytanit, however there were noted significant increase in the number of pods on branches and the number and weight of their seeds. The low (about 5%) share of the seed yield from branches in the total yellow lupin seed yield must have been the reason of no such spectacular increase in the seed yield as reported for pea by Janasowa et al. [7]. The most favorable effect on the formation of pods on branches and on the number and weight of their seeds was identified for 0.04% Tytanit applied once straight after blossom fall. It seems, however, that to obtain the highest seed yields, Tytanit must be applied twice after blossom fall with 7-10 day intervals at the concentration of 0.02%; such results were recorded in two of the three research years.

No effect of Tytanit on the plumpness of seeds should be expected; their structure defined according to the thickness was closely related with the vegetation period conditions, and to a minimum extent, with plant spraying with Tytanit. Even if Tytanit affects the activity of photosynthesis [11], especially over a decreasing symbiosis efficiency after plant blossom fall [14], its effect on the supply of assimilates to seeds was still too low to diversify the seed plumpness; however a better formation of seeds in the pod on the main stem and a significant enhancement of the structural yield components on branches can show a substantial role of titanium in the processes of photosynthesis and accumulation.

Dumon and Ernest [5] claim that titanium applied to growing of papilionaceous plants, both coarse- and small-grained, enhances the intensity of symbiosis, which could have been why the values of structural yield components for the main stem, although non-significant, were still each time higher than for the control. Therefore each research year recorded a significant increase in the yellow lupin seed yield following the application of Tytanit.

CONCLUSIONS

  1. Throughout the research years there was observed a significant effect of Tytanit on 7.4-18% increased yellow lupin yielding.

  2. Tytanit did not show a significant effect on the structural components of the seed yield from the main stem; its application resulted in a significant, as compared with the control, increase in the number of pods and seeds as well as the seed weight from branches.

  3. The content of protein in seeds and their structure determined for the yield according to the thickness were more affected by the hydro-thermal conditions over successive research years than by the application of Tytanit.

  4. As for yellow lupin yielding, the optimal solution seems to be offered by a double application of 0.02-0.04% of Tytanit straight after plant blossom fall and 7-10 days later.

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Janusz Prusiński
Department of Agrotechnology, Faculty of Agriculture and Biotechnology, UTP University of Science and Technology, Bydgoszcz, Poland
Kordeckiego St. 20
85-225 Bydgoszcz
Poland
email: janusz.prusinski@utp.edu.pl

Ewa Kaszkowiak
Department of Plant Cultivation,
University of Technology and Life Sciences in Bydgoszcz, Poland
Kordeckiego 20, 85-225 Bydgoszcz, Poland
email: kaszkowiak@atr.bydgoszcz.pl

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