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 3
Topic:
Agronomy
ELECTRONIC
JOURNAL OF
POLISH
AGRICULTURAL
UNIVERSITIES
Prusiński J. 2005. TRADITIONAL AND SELF-COMPLETING WHITE LUPIN (Lupinus albus L.) CULTIVARS YIELDING DEPENDING ON FOLIAR PLANT FERTILIZATION AND CHEMICAL PROTECTION, EJPAU 8(3), #41.
Available Online: http://www.ejpau.media.pl/volume8/issue3/art-41.html

TRADITIONAL AND SELF-COMPLETING WHITE LUPIN (LUPINUS ALBUS L.) CULTIVARS YIELDING DEPENDING ON FOLIAR PLANT FERTILIZATION AND CHEMICAL PROTECTION

Janusz Prusiński
Department of Agrotechnology, Faculty of Agriculture and Biotechnology, UTP University of Science and Technology, Bydgoszcz, Poland

 

ABSTRACT

In 2000 – 2002 a strict field experiment was carried out to investigate the effect of foliar fertilization and/or chemical plant protection on seed yield of two white lupin cultivars, ‘Bardo’ traditional and ‘Katon’ self-completing. The plants were sprayed once at the end of flowering and twice at the beginning and at the end of flowering. 5, 10, 15 and 20% urea solutions were supplemented with a 5% Mikrokompleks and 0.7 dm3·ha-1 of Sarfun (carbendazim), Mikrokompleks + Sarfun or they were used separately each. ‘Bardo’ yielded about 24% higher than ‘Katon’. ‘Bardo’ yielding was most enhanced by Sarfun chemical plant protection, while ‘Katon’ yielding – by all the urea treatments applied with Mikrokompleks + Sarfun. There was observed no significant effect of the foliar fertilization and/or plant protection treatments date and number on the seed yield and most of seed yield components and seed viability and vigor. A double plant spraying at the beginning and at the end of flowering increased significantly 1000 seed weight, only. Positive results of Sarfun application in white lupin seed production suggest that chemical plant protection is of great importance for the potential of this species, while the impact of foliar fertilization with urea + microelements will depend on the availability of macro- and microelements in soil and the effectiveness of symbiosis.

Key words: foliar treatments, urea, Mikrokompleks, Sarfun, white lupin.

INTRODUCTION

The misconception about especially high soil requirements of white lupin, problems with delayed plant ripening as well as no tradition and insufficient knowledge of cultivation are mostly responsible for a low acreage of this species in Poland [15]. Under moderate weather conditions white lupin yield ranges from 3 to 4 t·ha-1, which is the highest yielding of all the lupins cultivated in Poland. Over higher-precipitation years white lupin ripens as late as September; fungal disease symptoms are common, mainly gray mould, brown leaf and pod spot [20] and over the last few years also anthracnose has been observed [6], which not only decreases the seed yield but also seed sowing and fodder quality.

The fertilization of legumes with mineral nitrogen is still being investigated. High doses of mineral nitrogen inhibit nodule bacteria symbiosis [21] and, just like plants which do not live in symbiosis, the legumes uptake mineral nitrogen only, which can even deteriorate their yielding potential by 15-20% [3]. For that reason some authors claim that legumes should be treated only with 20-40 kg·ha-1 pre-sowing nitrogen doses [3,7,18,19] to meet the requirements of plants before starting symbiosis. On the other hand, it is commonly known that after the end of flowering the activity of nodule bacteria in N fixing is low, mainly due to a decreased activity of nitrogenase [16,21], and at the same time N requirements of plants are growing because of seed filling [9].

In lupin nutrients needed for seed filling come from remobilization of C and N compounds from vegetative parts of plants and therefore they are very sensitive to external conditions which can decrease intensity of photosynthesis over this time [2]. With a poor activity of Rhizobium strains, under unfavorable moisture, temperature and also physicochemical properties of soil, which deteriorate N fixing by nodule bacteria, plants can suffer N deficiency at the seed-filling stage, and so they do not use their production potential. Currently the recommendations concerning foliar fertilization of legumes account for the application of only MgSO4 with microelements and/or pesticides over the leaf rosette phase and prior to flowering [4,17].

The working hypothesis assumes that foliar fertilization of lupin with N, and also with microelements not only over the vegetative growth but also after seed formation, will allow the plants to avoid a potential deficit of nutrients. Additionally it was assumed that chemical plant protection enhancing the length of the photosynthetic activity of plants will allow setting a large number of plump seeds both on the main stem and branches and will also improve the seed health status. The aim of the present research was to compare the effect of urea applied together with MgSO4 on the yielding of traditional and self-completing white lupin cultivars with or without foliar fertilization with microelements and/or chemical protection of plants.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

To verify the working hypothesis, over 2000-2002 a strict three-factor field experiment was carried out at the Mochełek Experiment Station in a split-plot design and in the lab of Department of Seed Production of the Bydgoszcz University of Technology and Agriculture. The experiment involved two white lupin cultivars, traditional – ‘Bardo’ and self-completing – ‘Katon’.

The experimental design included a single plant spraying at the end of plant flowering (less than 10% of flowers per main stem) and double spraying – at the beginning (up to 10% of flowers per main stem) and the end of flowering. Combinations of foliar fertilization and/or chemical plant protection constituted the third factor:

k1 – 5% urea solution + 5% MgSO4 + 5% Mikrokompleks + 0.7 dm3·ha-1 of Sarfun 500 SC (500 g carbendazim per 1 dm3),
k2 – 10% urea solution + 5% MgSO4 + 5% Mikrokompleks + 0.7 dm3·ha-1 of Sarfun 500 SC,
k3 – 15% urea solution + 5% MgSO4 + 5% Mikrokompleks + 0.7 dm3·ha-1 of Sarfun 500 SC,
k4 – 20% urea solution + 5% MgSO4 + 5% Mikrokompleks + 0.7 dm3·ha-1 of Sarfun 500 SC,
k5 – 5% Mikrokompleks + 0.7 dm3·ha-1 of Sarfun 500 SC,
k6 – 5% Mikrokompleks,
k7 – 0.7 dm3·ha-1 of Sarfun 500 SC,
k8 – control – without spraying.

The urea concentrations applied provided 7, 14, 21 and 28 kg N·ha-1 after a single spraying and 14, 21, 42 and 56 kg N·ha-1 after a double spraying. Urea was solved in 300 l of water per ha. Mikrokompleks included 16% of MgO, 0.35% of Mn, 0.3% of Cu, 0.2% of Zn, 0.05% of B and 0.01% of Mo.

In spring each year 80 kg of P and 120 kg of K per ha were applied; soil pH ranged from 5.6 to 6.6. The content of Nmin in the 0-30 and 30-60 cm layers determined in subsequent years demonstrated that the availability of N amounted to 67.5, 90.5 and 49.7 kg·ha-1; the content of B, Cu and Mn remained high, of Zn – low and Fe – very low. The experiments were set up on April 3, 4 and 3 in successive years in 4 reps on 18 m2 sowing plots and 14.4 m2 harvest plots. Winter cereals constituted the forecrops. 75 germinating seeds of traditional cultivar and 100 of the self-completing one were sown at 20 cm row spacing and 3-4 cm deep. The seeds were dressed with Sarfun 65 DS (20% carbendazim + 45% tiuram) and Afalon 50 WP (50% linuron) directly after sowing at the dose of 1.25 l·ha-1 and 2-3-time harrowing after plant emergence were used for weed control.

Structural yield components, e.g. the number of pods, seeds, weight of seeds and 1000 seed weight per main stem and per plant and on branches were determined for each plot for 20 randomly sampled plants. The yield seed plumpness structure was determined according to the seed thickness with the seed screen using 500 g samples in 4 reps. The viability of seeds was defined with the standard germination test and the seed vigor – with the electroconductivity test (50 x 4 seeds in 250 ml of distilled water for 24 hours at 20°C).

The results were analyzed statistically for randomized split-plot design and the Tukey test was used to verify the significance of differences at α = 0.05

RESULTS

The weather conditions over research years, especially moisture, varied strongly. In 2000 precipitation in April (36% of multi-year mean), in May (70%) and in June (36%) amounted only to 58 mm while in July, August and September it was similar to multi-year mean (Table 1). The plants started flowering already at the beginning of the third decade of May having reached only 20 cm, whereas in 2001 very high air temperatures May through the end of August, when accompanied by very favorable moisture conditions, enhanced yielding. In 2002 there was observed lush vegetative growth due to very high precipitation in May. The lack of precipitation in June did not affect flowering and pod-setting considerably. To recapitulate, over three years very fine moisture conditions were recorded in 2001 (total April – September rainfall was 476 mm), favorable in 2002 (367 mm) and less favorable in 2000 (275 mm). The course of air temperature over plant flowering at the end of May and in June did not differ in successive years; however a varied rainfall distribution modified the abundance of flowering. In successive years the mean number of flowers on ‘Bardo’ branches amounted to 24.1, 21.8 and 33.1 and 14.6, 16.3 and 13.9 per main stem, which gave a total of 38.7, 38.1 and 47 flowers per plant. In ‘Katon’ all flowers were set on the main stem only and their number was 22.7, 25.1 and 20.8, namely 58.6, 65.8 and 44.2% of the mean for ‘Bardo’ plant.

Table 1. Mean air temperature and precipitation at the Mochełek Experiment 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

Mean for 2000-2002

8.5

14.4

16.5

18.3

18.2

11.9

Precipitation, 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

Mean for 2000-2002

24.9

57.0

43.6

108.3

55.3

83.6

In each research year ‘Katon’ ripened 10-14 days earlier than ‘Bardo’. There was observed no visible effect of foliar plant fertilization and plant protection on vegetative growth and development of any cultivar.

In 2000 the plants of both cultivars were healthy, with no anthracnose symptoms, whereas in 2001 and 2002 the intensity of anthracnose was evaluated as 2-3 and 4 in 5-degree scale, while the plots treated with Sarfun showed only single plants infested with Colletotrichum spp. and Botrytis cinerea.

The three-year synthesis revealed variations in cultivar yielding; ‘Bardo’ (3.42 t·ha-1) yielded 24% higher than ‘Katon’ (2.76 t·ha-1), which was due to a 40.9% higher number of pods and 62.7% higher number of seeds per plant, while ‘Katon’ main stem developed more pods (by 35.2%) and seeds (by 11.8%) and the seed weight was 11.1% higher than ‘Bardo’ (Table 2). In ‘Bardo’ 51.6% of pods, 54.5% of seeds and 57.6% of seed weight were developed on the main stem, whereas in ‘Katon’ 100% of the seed yield was generated by the main stem.

There was observed no significant effect of the treatments applied on white lupin yielding. As for the control (3.01 t·ha-1), significantly higher average white lupin seed yield (by 125 kg·ha-1) was obtained only when the plants were sprayed with a 20% solution of urea with z MgSO4 + Mikrokompleks + Sarfun (Fig. 1).

Table 2. Cross-cultivar differences in seed yield and yield components in white lupin

Trait

Bardo

Katon

Mean

Seed yield, t·ha-1

3.42 A

2.76 b

3.09

Yield components per plant

     

Number of pods

7.44 A

5.27 B

6.31

Number of seeds

27.5 A

17.0 B

22.2

Seed weight, g

6.70 A

4.29 B

5.35

1000 seed weight, g

263 A

243 B

253

Yield components per main stem

     

Number of pods

3.84 B

5.27 A

4.55

Number of seeds

15.0 B

17.0 A

16.0

Seed weight, g

3.86 B

4.29 A

4.07

1000 seed weight, g

1.00 A

0.75 B

0.88

Yield components on branches

     

Number of pods

3.60 A

0 B

1.80

Number of seeds

12.5 A

0 B

6.26

Seed weight, g

2.48 A

0 B

1.42

1000 seed weight, g

0.76 A

0 B

0.38

Means followed by the same letter did not differ significantly at α = 0.05

Fig. 1. Seed yield of white lupin depending on the treatments applied

The statistical analysis revealed a different reaction of cultivars to the treatments applied as well as the interaction between the treatment date and number. ‘Bardo’ yielding was most enhanced by Sarfun application; the seed yield was significantly higher than that obtained following the application of a 10% solution of urea + MgSO4 + Mikrokompleks + Sarfun. No significant differences were noted for the other foliar treatments (Fig. 2). In ‘Katon’ foliar application of any concentration of urea with MgSO4 + Mikrokompleks + Sarfun as well as a combined application of Mikrokompleks + Sarfun increased the seed yield significantly (by 182-249 kg·ha-1), as compared with the control. Only the application of Mikrokompleks or Sarfun separately resulted in a seed yield which was similar to the control.

Fig. 2. Seed yield of the white lupin cultivars tested depending on the treatments applied

There was observed a significant effect of neither the date nor the number of foliar treatments on white lupin yielding (Fig. 3). The best effects were recorded for a single Sarfun treatment (the seed yield was 185 kg·ha-1 higher than the control); a double plant treatment with a 20% solution of urea + MgSO4 + Mikrokompleks + Sarfun resulted in a significant increase (by 195 kg·ha-1) in seed yield, as compared with Mikrokompleks only. The mean white lupin straw yield amounted to 2.12 t·ha-1 in ‘Katon’ and 3.52 t·ha-1 in ‘Bardo’. The foliar treatments used did not affect the straw yield of any cultivar significantly.

Fig. 3. Seed yield of the white lupin cultivars tested depending on the number of treatments applied
(k1x – a single spraying, k2x – a double spraying)

The fruiting rate in ‘Bardo’ cultivar ranged from 1.23% (2000) to 21.3% (2002) for branches, from 19.3% (2001) to 33.6% (2002) for main stem and from 9.74% (2000) to 22.7% (2002) per plant (Fig. 4). In ‘Katon’ the pods accounted for 16.8% (2000) – 34.1% (2002) of the number of flowers per plant (main stem).

Fig. 4. Mean share of pods developed on the main stem, branches and per plant in white lupin

There was demonstrated a significant effect of the treatments used on the number of pods developed neither per plant in ‘Katon’ nor on branches in ‘Bardo’ (Table 3). The number of pods per main stem was enhanced by all the treatments applied while their number per plant was not differentiated only by Mikrokompleks + Sarfun. All the other treatments also improved the pod setting in ‘Bardo’.

Table 3. Effect of the treatments used on the number of pods

 

Treatment

Bardo

Katon
(per plant = per main stem)

on branches

per main stem

per plant

k1

3.80 a

3.87 ab

7.67 Aa

5.17 Ba

k2

3.65 a

3.94 ab

7.59 Aa

5.25 Ba

k3

3.88 a

3.93 ab

7.81 Aa

5.27 Ba

k4

3.69 a

3.89 ab

7.58 Aa

5.50 Ba

k5

3.25 a

3.66 bc

6.91 Ab

5.26 Ba

k6

3.66 a

4.03 a

7.69 Aa

5.30 Ba

k7

3.71 a

3.82 ab

7.53 Aa

5.40 Ba

k8 – Control

3.20 a

3.54 c

6.74 Ab

5.07 Ba

Mean

3.60

3.84

7.44 A

5.28 B

Means followed by the same capital letter (for cultivars) and lower-case letter for foliar treatments did not differ significantly at α = 0.05

The number of seeds developed per plant (main stem) in ‘Katon’ did not depend significantly on the foliar application treatments (Table 4). In ‘Bardo’ a higher number of seeds formed on branches was harvested following a 5 and a 10% solution of urea with MgSO4 + Mikrokompleks + Sarfun as well as Sarfun alone, while the number per main stem and per plant – following all the urea treatments and also the treatment with Mikrokompleks + Sarfun.

Table 4. Effect of foliar treatments on the number of seeds in white lupin

 

Treatment

Bardo

Katon – per plant
(per main stem)

on branches

per main stem

per plant

k1

13.4 ab

15.3 a

28.7 Aa

16.8 Ba

k2

13.1 ab

15.4 a

28.5 Aa

17.0 Ba

k3

12.1 b

15.4 a

27.5 Aab

16.6 Ba

k4

12.7 b

15.3 a

28.0 Aab

17.3 Ba

k5

11.5 c

14.9 a

26.4 Abc

16.8 Ba

k6

13.6 a

14.5 ab

28.1 Aab

17.5 Ba

k7

12.4 b

14.5 ab

26.9 Aabc

17.3 Ba

k8 - Control

11.7 bc

13.8 b

25.5 Ac

15.8 Ba

Mean

12.5

15.0

27.5 A

16.9 B

Means followed by the same capital letter (for cultivars) and lower-case letter for foliar treatments did not differ significantly at α = 0.05

The weight of seeds per plant (main stem) in ‘Katon’ treated with Sarfun was significantly higher than that in the control (Table 5). In ‘Bardo’ the seed weight per main stem and that formed on branches did not depend significantly on the treatments used. Only the application of Mikrokompleks + Sarfun did not increase the seed weight per plant significantly.

Table 5. Effect of foliar treatments on the weight of seeds in white lupin, g

 

Treatment

Bardo

Katon – per plant
(per main stem)

on branches

per main stem

per plant

k1

3.00 a

3.94 a

6.94 Aa

3.98 Bab

k2

2.91 a

3.92 a

6.83 Aa

4.01 Bab

k3

2.80 a

4.00 a

6.80 Aa

3.96 Bab

k4

2.92 a

3.88 a

6.80 Aa

4.13 Bab

k5

2.59 a

3.76 a

6.35 Ab

4.03 Bab

k6

2.86 a

3.94 a

6.80 Aa

4.00 Bab

k7

2.88 a

3.95 a

6.83 Aa

4.19 Ba

k8 – Control

2.70 a

3.45 a

6.15 Ab

3.73 Bb

Mean

2.85

3.85

6.70 A

4.00 B

Means followed by the same capital letter (for cultivars) and lower-case letter for foliar treatments did not differ significantly at α = 0.05

The 1000 seed weight was the only yield component which was changing as affected by the date and the number of foliar application treatments (Fig. 5). In ‘Bardo’ the highest 1000 seed weight was obtained when the plants were sprayed with Sarfun or Mikrokompleks, which was significantly higher than the control and when a 10 and a 20% solution of urea with MgSO4 + Mikrokompleks + Sarfun were applied. In ‘Katon’ 1000 seed weight was most enhanced by Mikrokompleks + Sarfun. A double spraying, especially with Sarfun, significantly increased the 1000 seed weight in white lupin, whereas a single spraying was most effective when Mikrokompleks + Sarfun were used (Fig. 6).

Fig. 5. White lupin cultivars 1000 seed weight depending on foliar treatments

Fig. 6. White lupin cultivars 1000 seed weight depending on the number of treatments applied
(k1x – a single spraying, k2x – a double spraying)

The seed germinability did not differ across cultivars and the foliar treatments dates and number did not differentiate the seed viability (Table 6). The highest germinability was recorded for ‘Bardo’ seeds when the plants were treated with Mikrokompleks and for the control seeds, while in ‘Katon’ – following plant spraying with the lowest concentration of urea solution + Mikrokompleks + Sarfun. The 10, 15 and 20% solutions of urea deteriorated seed viability of both cultivars. The seed vigor in ‘Katon’ was lower than in ‘Bardo’, especially after Mikrokompleks application. In both cultivars the seed vigor was most improved by Sarfun.

Table 6. Effect of foliar treatments on the seed viability and vigor in white lupin

Treatment

Germinability, %

Electroconductivity, µScm-1·g-1

Bardo

Katon

Bardo

Katon

k1

74.3 b

76.6 a

22.6 Bab

25.8 Abc

k2

73.8 bc

73.0 b

23.3 Ba

27.0 Ab

k3

71.5 cd

72.3 b

22.4 Bb

26.1 Abc

k4

71.0 cd

75.3 b

23.0 Bab

24.6 Ad

k5

73.8 bc

75.9 ab

21.7 Bbc

25.1 Adc

k6

77.5 a

72.6 b

22.8 Bb

27.8 Aa

k7

70.4 d

71.0 c

21.4 Bc

26.0 Ac

k8 - Control

75.5 ab

71.3 c

22.2 Bbc

26.3 Abc

Mean

73.4 A

73.5 A

22.4 B

26.1 A

Means followed by the same capital letter (for cultivars) and lower-case letter for foliar treatments did not differ significantly at α = 0.05

The mean content of protein in seeds ranged from 29.6% in ‘Katon’ to 31.9% in ‘Bardo’. A significant interaction in both cultivars was demonstrated between the foliar application treatments and the number of treatments. In ‘Bardo’ the highest seed protein content was recorded when the plants were exposed to a 10 and 20% solution of urea + Mikrokompleks + Sarfun, a significantly higher than when Mikrokompleks or Sarfun were used separately (Fig. 7). In ‘Katon’ the significantly highest protein content in seeds was noted following the use of a 15 and 20% solution of urea + Mikrokompleks + Sarfun. A single plant spraying at the end of flowering was more effective for the seed protein content than a double spraying (Fig. 8).

Fig. 7. Mean total protein content in the seeds of white lupin cultivars depending on the foliar treatments applied

Fig. 8. Mean total protein content in the seeds of white lupin cultivars depending on the number of foliar treatments applied (k1x – a single spraying, k2x – a double spraying)

The number and date of foliar sprayings did not affect significantly the share of white lupin seed fractions in the seed yield which were determined with the seed separator according to the seed thickness (Fig. 9). 4.0-4.5 mm thick seeds dominated in the yield of both cultivars (Fig. 10). In 2000 when precipitation was least favorable, seeds more than 5 mm thick were predominant. The treatments increased the share of seeds over 5.5 mm thick, especially after a single spraying at the end of flowering.

Fig. 9. Share of seed fractions in white lupin cultivars seed yield depending on the number of foliar treatments applied (k1x – a single spraying, k2x – a double spraying)

Fig. 10. Impact of weather conditions on the share of seed fractions in white lupin cultivars seed yield

DISCUSSION

According to Nalborczyk [9], self-completing legumes cultivars compensate a decreased assimilation area with a considerable improvement in light conditions deep in the stand, and a better aeration ensures a higher CO2 concentration as well as a better plant health status as a result of a decreased transpiration. All this brings about a better use of water in the biomass production and decreases the susceptibility of this type of cultivars to water deficit, which was, to a certain extent, confirmed in the present research by the lowest yielding difference (17.2%) between cultivars noted in 2000, which coincided with the lowest precipitation out of all research years. However, the better the moisture conditions, the greater the yielding advantage of the traditional cultivar over the self-completing one, 22.1% and 29.3% in 2001 and 2002, respectively. It seems that a greater water deficit in May (2001) could have a greater negative impact on white lupin yielding than in June (2002). Also in earlier research reported by the present author [12,15] traditional cultivars still yielded higher than the self-completing ones.

Most lupin nitrogen fertilization papers published so far concern solid mineral N fertilizers [3,7,11,18,19,22], and only a few consider foliar fertilization with urea solution [5,12] and microelements [7,8,13]. No significant increase in the seed yield following the application of mineral N [7,11,18] or only a few-percent increase [19], and even unfavorable effect of mineral N on legumes yielding [22], suggest the treatment with MgSO4 with microelements [4,17] only, which is most yield- enhancing in papilionaceous plants [16].

Some authors suggest that an increased demand of legumes for N coincides with the seed filling stage [9], when the effectiveness of N-fixing gets lower and lower [21] an so the plants can suffer N deficit. Therefore the foliar fertilization with N over seed filling, which does not increase the green matter yield, was to facilitate yielding plump seeds, especially when exposed to MgSO4 having a favorable effect on photosynthesis efficiency [1,22], microelements [16] contained in Mikrokompleks and Sarfun, the latter being one of the most effective in anthracnose control [6].

The foliar application of a 20% solution of urea with 5% Mikrokompleks + 0.7 dm3·ha-1 of Sarfun as the only combination of treatments used increased, as compared to the control, the seed yield, but only by 125 kg·ha-1, irrespective of the date and number of sprayings, to which, however, the response of the cultivars varied. In ‘Bardo’ it was Sarfun which was most yield-enhancing, while in ‘Katon’ – all treatments with urea. The experiments reported in literature seem to demonstrate no significant effect of foliar fertilization with urea in white [12] and yellow [5] lupins, although Czuba [4] claims that the papilionaceous plants treated with urea increased the seed yield by 200-400 kg·ha-1 in faba bean, up to 340 kg·ha-1 in pea and up to 280 kg·ha-1 in yellow lupin.

A considerably higher plant productivity is possible once microelements and/or fungicides are added to urea [5,12,17]. Insol and Agrosol, used by Księżak et al [8] did not affect ‘Wat’ white lupin cultivar yielding, while Ekolist, reported by Prusiński and Borowska [13], enhanced the yield and its components in yellow lupin. In the present research the treatments did not differentiate the number of pods and seeds developed by ‘Katon’ plant; Sarfun was the only one which resulted in a significant increase in seed weight per plant. In ‘Bardo’ the main stem pod setting was enhanced by the urea treatments. The seed yield formation on the main stem and on branches, which varied in time, can suggest a greater reaction of traditional cultivars to the treatments applied. In both cultivars Mikrokompleks + Sarfun increased 1000 seed yield most, especially when applied twice.

The importance of chemical control of white lupin plants comes from a very long, often exceeding 100 days, generative development at the end of August and in September, when temperature and moisture conditions facilitate a development of leaf and pod diseases [15]. Each year lupin plants and pods are affected by numerous diseases [6,20], so Sarfun application, especially alone or with Mikrokompleks, resulted in a significant increase in seed yield and enhanced some yield components and the vigor and viability of seeds. One can assume that Sarfun used in the present research limited the occurrence of anthracnose symptoms, especially where urea, affecting the development and prolonging the vegetation period of plants, was not used.

Maintaining the photosynthetic capacity as long as possible, e.g. by foliar fertilization and chemical protection of plants seems to be a simple way to enhance the use of their potential, which is measured with the number of flowers per plant and a prolonged photosynthetic activity [2]. Out of the total amount of assimilates supplied to the fruit and seeds, the leaves provide as much as 87% of assimilates, and pods 2.9% only. The most recent report by Olszewski [10] revealed, however, that photosynthesis in faba bean and pea pods does not occur at all, and so pod protection can have no effect on seed filling. However, it is well known that when factoring in the re-assimilation of CO2 from pod cavities at night, the pod share in total photosynthesis of yellow lupin plant increases up to 27.5% [9], therefore foliar plant fertilization and chemical pod protection may be of great importance, which was demonstrated in the present research showing an increase in the total protein content in white lupin seeds following the treatments applied.

CONCLUSIONS

  1. ‘Bardo’ traditional white lupin cultivar yielded about 24% higher than ‘Katon’ self-completing cultivar.

  2. Sarfun was most yield-enhancing in ‘Bardo’ and all the treatments with urea + Mikrokompleks + Sarfun – in ‘Katon’.

  3. There was observed no significant effect of the date and number of foliar plant treatments on the mean seed yield and most seed yield components as well as on the seed viability and vigor in white lupin.

  4. A single foliar treatment with Mikrokompleks + Sarfun at the end of plant flowering resulted in a significant increase in the seed yield, as compared to the control; a double treatment gave the best results when a 20% solution of urea + Mikrokompleks + Sarfun were used.

  5. A double foliar treatment at the beginning and at the end of plant flowering significantly increased the 1000 seed weight only; a single spraying at the end of flowering was sufficient to obtain a significantly higher content of total protein is seeds.

  6. Sarfun application enhancing the use of white lupin seed production potential suggests a greater importance of plant protection. The effectiveness of foliar fertilization of plants with urea and microelements will depend on the availability of macro- and microelements and symbiotic intensity.

REFERENCES

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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

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