Vol 45, No 4 (2019)

The results of a 10-year (2008–2017) comparative study of winter rye varieties with recessive-polygenic (the first group) and dominant-monogenic (the second group) short stem type are presented. In each group, five varieties were estimated based on six traits: crop productivity, winter hardiness, plant height, 1000-grain weight, falling number, and viscosity of aqueous extract of grain meal. The following parameters were determined for each trait: phenotypic stability (SF), ecological variation (CV), ecological plasticity (bi), total (TAC) and specific (SAC) adaptive capacity, and breeding value of the genotype (BVG). Average productivity for groups of varieties was identical (6.69 and 6.62 t/ha, respectively); however, short stemmed varieties with dominant-monogenic type significantly differed by the best winter hardiness of plants (for 6.3%) and had a shorter stem (by 9.3 cm). The ecological variation of traits was significantly affected by all three factors: weather conditions of the year (75.5–95.0%), genotype of variety (1.1–2.5%), and variety to year interaction (2.9–22.3%). The year’s weather conditions influenced crop productivity most strongly (86.3% for the first group and 95.0% for the second group). For the winter hardiness trait, the influence of the variety to year factor was higher than for other traits, and it was respectively 9.3 and 22.3%. Ecological stability of the second group varieties was two times higher (CV = 12.4%) than that of the first group varieties (CV = 24.3%). The conclusion that winter rye varieties with a dominant-monogenic short stem had a lower norm of reaction to the adverse conditions of a rewintering developing during years with a high snow cover was made. Therefore, regions where the main limiting factor is low rewintering due to the strong infestation of plants with snow rot have to be the main cultivation area of such winter rye varieties. It is expedient to cultivate different types of short stemmed winter rye varieties in the main winter rye regions of Russia taking into account their agroecological specificity.

The results of research into the efficiency of mineral and organic-and-mineral fertilization systems in a long-term, stationary five-field rotation, including soybean and grain crops, are analyzed as dependent on certain agro-ecological factors. The aim of this work was to study the effect of continuous application of mineral (annual N₄₂Р₄₈ per ha of the crop rotation area) and organic-and-mineral (annual N₂₄Р₃₀ + 4.8 t of manure per ha of the crop rotation area) fertilization systems on the productivity of soybean in the crop rotation. The subjects of research were the middle and early ripening varieties of this crop, sown after annual grasses (soybean and oats mixture) and spring wheat. The preceding crop, the variety, and the hydrothermal conditions in 1963–2017 were considered as agro-ecological factors. The highest yield was obtained when sowing soybean crops after wheat: throughout a number of years, the yield of 1.8–2.0 t ha^–1 was by 16% more frequent in this case than when soybean was cultivated after annual grasses. The maximum increase against the reference (0.17 t ha^–1) was obtained with long-term application of organic and mineral fertilizers to the soybean crop cultivated after wheat. In cold wet years, using such a system of fertilization ensured the plant’s resistance to adverse weather conditions as well as an increase in soybean yield by 0.18 t ha^–1 against the reference. The following midseason soybean varieties were the most responsive to fertilization: their grain yield was 0.03–0.20 t ha^–1 higher compared to the reference and the potential productivity was fulfilled 2–7% better.

The biological, climatic potential, and soil conditions for territory of Western Siberia are suitable for cultivating cruciferous oil crops (rapeseed and turnip rape). Oil crops are widely used for human nutrition, feeding livestock, many industries, medicine, and perfumery. The oil contains unsaturated fatty acids (oleic, linoleic, and linolenic), which are essential in human nutrition. Increase in productivity is the main goal in turnip rape breeding; much attention is paid to oil increase in seeds and improvements of oil quality (low content of glucosinolates in seeds and the absence of erucic acid in the oil). Brief characteristics of zoned turnip rape varieties are given: productivity (seed yield, oil content, and oil yield) and fatty acid composition of oil. It has been shown that the created varieties have a high adaptability to severe Siberian conditions and resistance to the main environmental factors.

For maize grain, which has been important for the forage production of the country over the past two decades, persistent contamination with toxins of fusarium fungi, more often T-2/HT-2 toxins, fumonisins, and more rarely with deoxynivalenol and zearalenone in quantities that pose risks for animal intoxication was showed by enzyme immunoassay. The cases of superintensive accumulation of cyclopiazonic acid, citrinin, mycophenolic acid, and ochratoxin A were revealed. In 2016–2018, for maize grain from four subjects of the Central Federal District of the Russian Federation, a significant prevalence of T-2/HT-2 toxins, deoxynivalenol, and fumonisins with fluctuations in the frequency of occurrence of zearalenone over the years was found; diacetoxyscirpenol was detected in several samples from the Kursk and Voronezh oblasts. Contamination of grain with alternariol in 2016 and 2017 was mild both by frequency (5.3%) and accumulation levels (20–85 μg/kg), but the proportion of samples containing this toxin was 40.7% with a content range of 25–295 μg/kg in the yield of 2018. The influence of soil and climatic factors on the nature of mycotoxin contamination of the maize grain yield, the contribution of fungi belonging to dematiaceous hyphomycetes, and the prevailing variants of combined contamination with fusariotoxins are discussed.

Nine commercial pesticides currently used in Russian greenhouses against pests (aphids, thrips, whiteflies) were selected to determine their toxicity to predatory mite Neoseiulus californicus McGregor in order to find out the potential use of acariphage against the background of chemical treatments by Vertimec (abamectin), Fitoverm (aversectin C), Kliper (bifenthrin), Novaction (malation), Oberon (spiromesifen), Bitoxibacillin (Bacillus thuringiensis var. thuringiensis), Actara (tiametoxam), Admiral (piriproxifen), Confidor (imidacloprid), Mospilan (acetamiprid). The recommended concentration of the preparation (T), half the concentration (1/2T), and a double concentration (2T) were used on the female mite in the experiments. The side effects of the pesticides applied to the predator mite were determined 1, 3, and 5 days after the application. The recommended concentration of the preparation of Vertimec, Fitoverm, and Kliper showed a higher toxic effect on N. californicus femails (mortality rate 100%). The obtained data reveals the impossibility of their joint application with the release of N. californicus. The toxic effects of Mospilan, Confidor, Admiral, Actara, Bitoxibacillin, and Novaktion on N. californicus females were low (0–16.6% mortality of females). The present study confirms that the use of predatory mite N. californicus in combination with these pesticides is prospective in integrated pest management in Russian greenhouse conditions.

Biomass of spring wheat on sod-podzolic soil largely forms due to soil nitrogen, the share of which reaches four-fifths of the total removal of the element when using mineral fertilizers. Inoculation increases the fertilizer nitrogen use efficiency by 4.5% and reduces losses by 7%; there is a trend to increase the immobilization of N fertilizers. Stability of an agroecosystem is characterized by nitrogen flows. During the growing season of spring wheat, the amount of mineralized nitrogen depending on the fertilizer amounts to 17.4–18.0 g/m², while the amount of reimmobilized nitrogen is 4.4–4.9 g/m² and net-mineralization (N-M) is 13.1 g/m². The inoculation of seeds with Rhizoagrin does not significantly affect the processes of mineralization (M) and reimmobilization (RI) in anything but a positive trend of increase in mineralization and reimmobilization of nitrogen in the soil. The use of nitrogen fertilizer brings the agroecosystem into a state of resistance (the maximum threshold limit of exposure (RI : M = 25% and N-M : RI = 3)). On average, over the years of research, inoculation of seeds with Rhizoagrin did not change the indicators of an agroecosystem’s stability with the application of the fertilizers.

The article proposes the possibility of solving the urgent problem of increasing agricultural efficiency in Russia by improving the organizational and economic structure of the regions' agrarian economy, suggesting an increase in the number of agricultural producers for those forms of management that demonstrate greater efficiency and a decrease in the number of farms of less efficient forms of management. The article describes the method developed by the author for a comparative, comprehensive analysis of agricultural production’s efficiency in economic entities of various forms of business as well as its use on the example of one of Russia’s regions: the Republic of Adygea. The need for such an analysis at the regional level is emphasized, since Russia’s regions differ in climatic and production-economic conditions, established traditions, living and other conditions of villagers, and, according to the author, these regional features affect the results of the analysis. The results of the analysis allow determining the direction of changes in the existing organizational and economic structure of the agrarian economy in a particular region, which can contribute to the increase in the agricultural production’s efficiency, and to develop appropriate measures by the executive authorities.

The actual problem in identifying a prolificacy gene in Romanov breed sheep is considered. The new diagnostic method to identify the polymorphic gene of the bone morphogenetic protein 15 (BMP-15) influencing prolificacy in the Romanov sheep has been proposed based on the surveys. The frequencies of occurrence of the normal (wild-type) and mutant alleles and the genotypes present at a locus responsible for prolificacy in sheep are revealed. The quantitative indicators, including the numbers of lambs at birth and at weaning and the barren and culled ewes, were recorded with taking into consideration the genotypes at the BMP-15 locus. The correlation between the frequency of occurrence and the number of the produced posterity and among the barren and culled Romanov ewes were ascertained. It was indicated that the highest percentage of the lamb output at birth and at weaning was typical for the ewes homozygous (MM) for a mutant allele. The animals referred to as heterozygous genotypes (WM) appeared in the second position. The highest percentage of the culled and barren ewes was recorded in the carriers of the WW homozygote. Based on the obtained results, it has been concluded that the genotypes at the BMP15 locus should be taken into consideration when selecting the ewes with regard to their fertility. However, further researches into the determined phenomenon in the Romanov sheep are required to improve this performance, since multifetal pregnancies in some WW-group ewes have been registered.

Increasing milk productivity and obtaining high-quality products are based on targeted breeding, balanced feeding of animals, and compliance with requirements of modern milking and livestock technology, and they represent one of the areas of improving milk production technologies in modern complexes. For efficient robotic milk production, the following indicators of dairy cattle should be taken into account: high milk productivity and milk flow, tightly attached udder, same-sized teats whose lower point should not be below 33 cm from the floor level, a 3 cm minimum distance between the rear nipples and 12.5–30 cm between the front teats, a 1.5–3.5-cm thickness of teats, rear teats that should be located 3 cm lower than the lower part of the udder, a 7 cm minimum distance between the front and rear teats of the udder, and a vertical deviation angle of the teats of no more than 30°. The main reasons for minor losses of milk during robotic milking can be milking of cows that do not have a full-fledged milk-giving reflex or cases when this reflex was inhibited at the beginning of milking as a result of putting the milking arm on the udder teats. It is shown that the milking frequency varies by day periods relatively weakly and decreases to a minimum only in the second half of the night during robotic milking, which is associated with a relatively late distribution of feed mixtures. It is noted that cows of all ages have almost the same number of robotic milkings, which is approximately two times.

The biological and biochemical effects induced by transvaginal treatment with biologically active iodine have been examined with and without the reference severe irritant for chicken embryos and chicks, which are considered the most popular model systems for investigation of a drug’s action in veterinary medicine. An increase in the thyroid activity in the experimental group chickens during the first days of their life is reveled and analyzed. Under the impact of the thermal stress factor, the levels of the iodothyronines were elevated. In particular, it was 1.3 times, 20.9%, 23.2%, and 1.3 times higher for total T₃, free T₃, total T₄, and free T₄, respectively, in the experimental chickens compared to the control. Under the reference optimization of the thyroid status, the antioxidant defense system in the organisms of the 1-day-old chickens in experimental group two was activated, resulting in the significant increase in the blood serum antioxidant activity, which was 1.3 higher than that in the control group of chickens. This caused a decrease in the levels of the lipids containing the isolated double bonds, the diene conjugates, the triene conjugates, the oxodiene conjugates, and the Schiff bases, whose levels decreased by 8.8%, 1.4 times, 16.3%, 1.5 times, and 1.4 times, respectively. The key aspects of the iodothyronine mechanism of action at the high intensity of the free radical reactions followed by lipid peroxidation are shown in the form of a diagram in Fig. 1. The results of the survey can offer the opportunity to use the drug products based on the chemical element indicated above properly by the veterinarians and health workers. The more that the stressors affect the organism of a bird, the greater is the antioxidant effect exerted by the thyroid hormones.

Analysis of the mechanization level in soil treatment for plantings of seedlings and saplings of forest and horticultural crops that is necessary for weeding, keeping soil in a loose state, introducing nutrients into the root layer of the soil, etc. has revealed that interrow treatment has a 100% result. However, the plant rows that include protective zones remain untreated in this case, which requires a considerable amount of manual labor, which is 40–50 people/h per ha to perform the row treatment operation. The best option for the care of planted seedlings for saplings of forest and horticultural crops is the reequipment of the cultivators with a KRN mechanism that allows them to process the soil, simultaneously performing soil-treatment operations both in rows and row spaces. All known methods of tillage in rows require the use of special mechanisms that loosen the soil in a row and cut weeds. Such executive devices must create a necessary protective zone around plants. The developed structure of the mechanism is installed on the KRN row cultivator over the processed row, which simultaneously processes row spaces and rows. The results of the theoretical studies of the developed mechanism are presented.