Grain yield of soft wheat under the conditions of the Vologda Region when applying Naturost-M microbial product

Abstract

This paper discusses the results of field trials conducted from 2020 through 2022 to study the effect of an experimental product based on live bacteria Bacillus megaterium on growth and productive indices of spring wheat under the conditions of the Vologda Region (the trial field of the Vologda Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences). The research target was soft spring wheat of the variety Darya released for growing in the North-West region. The findings of the long-term research show the increase of the weight indices of spring wheat during the entire growing season when applying the product based on B. megaterium strain B-4801. For instance, the trial variants exceeded the control ones by 6-55% in terms of dry weight of the plant aboveground part depending on the growing phase and the year of the study. In addition to the dry weight, the increase of the assimilative surface in the trial variants was also observed. Taking into account that the application of the experimental product contributed to the activation of the growth of spring wheat plants, increased grain yield of the crop was expected. The superiority of grain yield of the trial variant over the control one reached 5-10%, while there was an increase of kernel weight by 5-11% and larger number of productive shoots by 9-10%. In general, the growing seasons of 2020 and 2022 were more favorable for plant growth and microbial action with adequate rainfall in contrast to the dry and hot year of 2021.