BIOLOGICALS, DESTRUCTORS AND COMPOST: AGRO GIANTS EXPERIENCE

Three years ago, the European Green Deal, a large-scale company for green agriculture, was passed in the EU. It involves reducing the use of pesticides and antibiotics in agricultural production by 50% by 2030 and converting up to 25% of agricultural land to organic farming.

How does this apply to Ukraine? After a full-scale invasion, no one doubts that Ukraine will be a member of the EU. It is only a matter of time. However, as the Minister of Agricultural Policy and Food of Ukraine Mykola Solskyi noted, approximately 40% of the documents that Ukraine needs to bring into compliance with EU legislation relate to agriculture and products. This is the largest part of the negotiation.

Accordingly, after accession, the Ukrainian agricultural sector will need to invest significant resources so that production meets EU standards and regulations. Particularly those related to the amount of greenhouse gas emissions, the quality and quantity of pesticides which are used and as well as the wastewater treatment.

In partnership with the company 

we investigated how agricultural holdings are already working in the direction of soil fertility preservation, pesticide load reduction and ecological farming. "Astarta-Kyiv", "Kernel", "TAS Agro" and "Agrarian System Technologies" (AST) share their experience.

Land bank "AST" is located in the northern and western regions, where the soils are quite varied. If in the north of Ukraine the company is forced to work, including on sandy and loamy soils, then, for example, in the west - on carbonate soils. That is why you need to have your own approach to each field. In order to develop a competent nutrition system for a specific field, agrochemical soil tests are regularly conducted here and on the humus-poor soils, harvest residues are usually left.

“In the north of the Zhytomyr region we have poor sandy soils, so there is no other choice – we have to accumulate organic matter in the soil. How does it work? Leave the leftover corn on a field and on other fields with a little amount of humus, we do the same, because at such high temperatures everything starts to burn. So in such way we also reduce the temperature load on the soil,” says the company.

By shading the soil from the sun, the crop residues, firstly, protect the top layer of the soil from weathering, and secondly, reduce moisture loss due to evaporation by about 30-40%. Besides plant remains reduce the spread of erosion. In addition, plant residues are a source of organic matter, in particular potassium, which is an important source of nutrition.

Harvest residues
 

In “Astarta ” there is a whole direction of restoring and maintaining soil fertility. There, too, crop residues are not disposed of but left in the field. Products for their destruction and biologicals for mobilizing soil nutrients are actively used.

As for the biological destructors of stubble, it has been proven that they provide better decomposition of crop residues, influence the increase of humus in it. Some of them even allow you to save 40% of fertilizers when processing crop residues. This is achieved thanks to the biologicals active ingredients, which contains a wide range of fungi and bacteria in a high concentration.

Vladyslav Bolohovskyi notes that the greening of agriculture is, first of all, a demand of the time.

He also says: "We have to understand that the transition to ecological principles of farming is a necessity today. Depletion and degradation of soils is a trend characteristic not only for Ukraine, but for the whole world. However, it is no secret that in our country the mentioned destructive processes are developing at the highest rates. In addition to many objective factors, the irrational nature of farming should also be mentioned. Greening is an important and progressive step to cope with the soil degradation. This is not an abstract term, but a whole complex of specific technological solutions that can be integrated into agricultural activity, adapting to the needs of both farmers and large agricultural holdings."

According to the CEO of BTU-CENTER, reducing the chemical load is one of the basic stages of greening.

In order to reduce the amount of use of chemical products, agricultural holdings introduce some elements of biotechnology into their work. However, the greatest preference is given to soil biologicals.

As we have already mentioned above, for the humification of crop residues, the displacement of pathogens from the soil, as well as for the compensation of those microorganisms that are no longer present in the soil due to a short crop rotation, the mobilization of phosphorus, etc.

 

Phosphorus and potassium mobilizers allow plants to absorb fertilizers better and this is nowadays a significant part of expenses at enterprises. The use of starter fertilizers in combination with phosphorus and potassium mobilisers allows you to save or obtain, as a surplus for the plant, fertilizers in an accessible form up to 30%.

In his turn, the head of the research department of "Kernel" Arkadiy Lungul says that both biological and chemical products should be used in a complex, complementing each other.

Arkadiy also said: "Biologicals are an important part of the technological map. Destructors, mineral fertilizers, mobilizers of phosphorus and potassium should be applied comprehensively. Everything should be in moderation. Under such conditions, we can come to a decrease in the share of fertilizers in technology, which is very relevant now. For example, we constantly applied fertilizers for 10 years, but used only 20-30% of phosphorus. In years like the last one or this one, we can reduce the amount due to biological treatment."

Kernel has been using biologicals for more than 10 years. According to Arkady Lungul, while working with these products, the company forgot what fusarium head blight and powdery mildew diseases on corn are, taking into account the fact that in many regions it is a monoculture. Currently, experiments are being conducted on the effectiveness of the use of biofungicides and bioinsecticides.

He also added: "In 2018, we went into biological preparations masse. Then their use in the holding increased by 27%. Even last year, due to the war, the use of biologics was at the level of 16%. Now this direction is developing rapidly in our country. For the 2024 harvest, we have already applied biologicals on an area of 412,000 hectares. Next year, we plan to expand the use of biological products, in particular, an insecticide against diabrotic.

TAS Agro has been using biologicals for about five years. They are used in the fields in the Vinnytsia and Chernihiv regions.

"We use biological products, in particular inoculants and destructors and we also use phosphorus-mobilizing bacteria. We see an improvement in the activity of the soil microflora, which is reflected both in the growth of productivity and the structure of the soil "- the company explains.

During the previous five years (to a lesser or greater extent depending on the year), biological products have also been used in the fields of "Astarta". They are mainly represented by stubble destructor Ecostern, inoculants for leguminous crops Bioinoculant-BTU und Rizoline, as well as biofungicides Mycofriend and Fitocid and bioinsecticides Actoverm Formula and Metawhite.

Roman Pavlyk, a chief agronomist of "Astarta-Kyiv" says, that it is the second year, when AST has been using biologicals, anti-stress fertilizers and biological fungicides, in particular, Sclerocid. Last year, 20% of the soybean crop was affected by a disease - the biologicals helped a lot to cure the plants. By the way, it can also be used for soil and crop residue treatment.

At "Astarta", organic fertilizers are also applied to the fields and they practice making compost from them. According to the chief agronomist Roman Pavlyk, about 270,000 tons of fresh organic fertilizers are used annually.

In the season of 2022, the company started a program for composting organic fertilizers at one agricultural company, as a result of which part of the organic fertilizers last year was already applied in the form of compost. This season, all agricultural companies of the holding are working on composting to obtain organic fertilizers that are safer for the soil and more effective for plants. BTU-CENTER has been helping "Astarta" for more than one year to take care of the preservation of soil fertility, in particular, in the direction of composting.

The director of an agricultural production "Astarta-Kyiv" Vadym Skrypnyk informed:

"In May, we signed a memorandum on strategic cooperation and partnership. We will work on a new intelligent product that will reduce the amount of waste by turning it into organic fertilizers, improve the quality of the soil, and bring about positive environmental changes.

But in TAS Agro, organic matter is applied to the fields in the form of cattle manure. The Group includes the TASbio farm, where 72 buffaloes are kept, so there are no problems with the supply of this fertilizer. The rate of manure application is approximately 40 t/ha. It is usually applied under corn. In this case, they refuse to apply RK, and the nitrogen rate is reduced by 20%.

"AST" does not have experience in applying organic fertilizers yet. Although they are planning to apply them to fields in the Lviv region this year. They have already developed the project and are waiting for its approval. In the meantime, an experimental plot was experimentally established in the Rivne region. An agreement was made with a local company that provided organic fertilizers, and they were applied under soybeans and corn. So far, they are satisfied with the experiment - the plants are really in a good condition.

According to the State Statistics Service, in Ukraine, on average, farmers apply 1.5 kg/ha of pesticides. Of these, an average of 0.3 kg falls on fungicides and bactericides, another 1.1 kg on herbicides and 0.1 kg on insecticides and acaricides.

TAS Agro answered us that today, the average pesticide load in the company is on average $50-70/ha. "AST" explains that they are not reducing the pesticide load, but they are not increasing it either.

"There is no such possibility - to reduce. That year, the collection company was delayed. Besides, April this year was rainy, which provoked the growth of weeds. However, we are exporters, so we strictly comply with all bans on the use of pesticides in force in the countries where we sell our products. For example, they moved away from glyphosate,"- the company notes.

"AST" plans to enter precision agriculture, because it is both about competitive advantage and about caring for natural resources. So, in the north of the Zhytomyr region, 5 thousand hectares are planned to work on the system of zero tillage. In the Rivne region, organic farming should be introduced where the land bank is close to populated areas.

But Roman Pavlyk, the chief agronomist of Astarta-Kyiv, says that in the conditions of intensive farming and, accordingly, the presence of a high background of diseases and pests, which often occurs in oversaturated crop rotations of agricultural companies, a mass transition to ecological farming is extremely risky. According his words it is extremely risky to reduce the dosage of mineral fertilizers, which in recent years, due to shortages on the market and high prices, have been used in minimal quantities. Ignoring these warnings will most likely lead to the loss of crop potential and a significant reduction in yield.

So while agricultural holdings are gradually working in the direction of ecological agriculture. They are experimenting, somewhere they are solving problems, somewhere they are getting the desired effect. It is like in a famous poem: "Everything begins with small things..."