Agnieszka Szparaga

Modeling Biometric Traits, Yield and Nutritional and Antioxidant Properties of Seeds of Three Soybean Cultivars Through the Application of Biostimulant Containing Seaweed and Amino Acids

In recent years, attempts have been made to use preparations that allow obtaining high and good quality yields, while reducing the application of pesticides and mineral fertilizers. These include biostimulants that are safe for the natural environment and contribute to the improvement of yield size and quality, especially after the occurrence of stressors. Their use is advisable in the case of crops sensitive to such biotic stress factors like low temperatures or drought. One of these is soybean which is a very important plant from the economic viewpoint. Field experiments were established in the years 2014-2016 in a random block design in four replicates on experimental plots of 10 m2. Three soybean cultivars: Annushka, Mavka, and Atlanta were planted in the third decade of April. Fylloton biostimulant was used at 0.7% or 1% concentrations as single spraying (BBCH 13-15) or double spraying (BBCH 13-15, BBCH 61) in the vegetation period. The number of seeds per 1 m2, seed yield, thousand seed weight, number of pods per plant, number of nodes in the main shoot, height of plants, and protein and fat contents in seeds were determined. The content of phenolic compounds, antioxidant capacity and antioxidant effect of soybean seeds were assayed as well. Foliar treatment of soybean with Fylloton stimulated the growth and yield of plants without compromising their nutritional and nutraceutical properties. The double application of the higher concentration of Fylloton was favorable for the plant height, seed number and soybean yield. Moreover, the highest number of pods was obtained after single treatment of plants with the lower biostimulant concentration. There was also a positive effect of using this biostimulant on the content and activity of some bioactive compounds, such as phenolics and flavonoids, and on the reducing power.

Generalized logistic functions in modelling emergence of Brassica napus L.

The objective of this study was to determine whether generalized logistic functions (Richards model with time shift) may be used to predict emergence of winter rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) after its seed treatment with plant extracts from Taraxacum officinale roots under controlled environment conditions. Emergence analyses were conducted for winter rape whose seeds were treated with a plant extract and for the non-treated seeds sown to the soil at the site of earlier point application of the extract. Curves were plotted for experimental data by minimizing the square sum of differences between the experimental data and the mathematical model. To evaluate model fit, the mean squared error was divided into four factors. Computing modelling efficiency coefficients were also introduced to enable complete analysis. Results of simulation research demonstrate that the determined parameters of curves (e.g. values of growth parameters, time shift or the upper limit of population) describing the number of seedlings in the function of time stayed compliant to the interpretation with regard to the biology of the analyzed processes. The proposed mathematical description based on generalized logistic functions showed extraordinary fit (r = 0.999) to the experimental data, which makes it highly useful in predictive control of rapeseed emergence. In addition, the study enabled concluding that plant extracts application to the soil allowed achieving a higher maximal emergence rate compared to the control sample. The application of the plant extracts increased the final population of rapeseed and significantly accelerated the occurrence of the maximal emergence rate.

Effect of applying a biostimulant containing seaweed and amino acids on the content of fiber fractions in three soybean cultivars

The experiment was conducted in the years 2014-2016 with the aim to evaluate the influence of a biostimulant based on seaweed and amino acids on the content of neutral and acid detergent fiber, lignin, cellulose and hemicellulose in three cultivars of soybean. In the vegetative season, 0.7% and 1.0% solutions of the biostimulant were used in single and double spraying. Based on the determined fiber fraction contents it was evaluated whether treating soybean with the biostimulant may enhance the quality of forages obtained from it. It was found that the level of fiber fractions and contents of hemicellulose and cellulose were influenced by biostimulant application. Differences in the content of fiber fractions resulted from the number of biostimulant doses and its concentration. Mavka cultivar treated with Fylloton was characterized by the highest mean content of fiber fraction. Evaluation of the forage quality indexes demonstrated that biostimulant use caused their reduction, and the highest values were found for Annushka cultivar.

Assessment of plant germination intensity with the use of automated system with computer vision method

Abstract The objective of the paper was to show various options of using by author an automated stand with computer image analysis for control of plant germination on the example of cauliflower Brassica oleracea L. ‘Pionier” variety. The developed system consisted of a mobile platform equipped with the acquisition and image processing system based on Raspberry PL processor. Germination of cauliflower seeds was the object of observation, which in one case were sown to soil after dressing them with plant extracts (sweet flag Acorus calamus L., great burdock roots Arctium lappa L.). In the other case, undressed seeds were sown in the place of previous application of the above-mentioned extracts. The use of a robot for monitoring plant germination enabled the automated analysis of the investigated material with higher frequency than it has been possible so far. Simultaneously, higher germination was reported when seeds were treated with macerates and extracts from great burdock roots.