To increase the organic potato yield, it is necessary to provide the crop with sufficient nutrients and effective means of biocontrol the diseases. The research goal was to characterize the biorationals’ efficacy to achieve competitive organic potatoes’ yield under various weather conditions. A 4-year trial was carried out in the Leningrad region using Udacha variety potatoes. The tests used liquid forms of new polyfunctional biologicals Kartofin based on highly active Bacillus subtilis I-5-12/23 and organic fertilizer BIAGUM obtained from poultry manure by aerobic fermentation in a closed biofermenter. Significant stimulation in plant growth and development to the flowering phase regardless of the hydrothermal conditions of the growing season was noted. The stimulating effect was determined by the combined use of biorationals pro rata to BIAGUM dose. Kartofin biologicals and BIAGUM almost doubled the potato tubers’ yield compared to the control, regardless of the growing season conditions. At the flowering phase, the biological efficacy in potato fungal diseases incidence and development was near 90% under optimal and 50–75% under drought hydrothermal conditions. At the end of vegetation, the efficiency in fungal diseases incidence and development made up 45–65% under optimal and 45–70% under dry conditions. BIAGUM effectiveness in reducing disease development reached 45–50% regardless of growing season conditions.
In September 2015, the UN General Assembly adopted 17 goals and 169 targets for sustainable development until 2030. The fourth goal provides for the development of inclusive and equitable quality education, and goals 12, 13 and 14 are aimed at protecting the environment and organizing appropriate education for this. When implementing environmental education, it is necessary to take into account the characteristics of a generation of students, in this case, generation Z. For a number of years, Russian-Finnish projects were carried out in the Luga district of the Leningrad region. One of the main objectives of the projects concerned the environmental education of schoolchildren and students. Using international experience, a number of interactive teaching methods have been developed and are still being used. They are focused on fostering student independence and provide his motivation. A student conducts his own research work and participates in a youth team to prepare and to implement their own projects aimed at solving local problems. This approach forms an ecological culture of an ecocentric type among students, and their desire to bear their part of responsibility for the state of the environment.
The paper presents the results of experimental studies of the influence of the level of mineral nutrition and the variant composition of technological methods of care on the productivity of organic potatoes. The studies were carried out at the Experimental Station of the Institute for Engineering and Environmental Problems in Agricultural Production - Branch of Federal State Budgetary Scientific Institution “Federal Scientific AgroEngineering Center VIM near St. Petersburg. The soil of experimental plots is sod-podzolic light loamy gleyic on residual carbonate moraine loam. Soil resistance was measured with a Penetrologger. The use of deep loosening of the inter-row spacings during inter-row cultivation reduced the soil resistance in the inter-row spacing by about 20% and in the root formation zone by 13%. Deep loosening of the row spacings reduced the soil resistance in the experiment both with direct measurement after the technological operation to a depth of 60 cm, and within two months of measurements. With the combined use of compost and deep loosening, the yield increase was from 1.46% to 6.04% when comparing comparable doses. The maximum potato yield of 23.6 t /ha was obtained with deep loosening of row spacings and a poultry compost dose of 8 t /ha
Relevance. Organic production is focused on maximizing the use of natural resources. Particular importance is attached to natural nitrogen fixation. Nitrogen fixation provides agricultural systems with nitrogen fixed from the atmosphere and converted into forms accessible to plants. The microbial biological “Flavobacterin”, which exhibits nitrogen-fixing activity and also suppresses a wide range of phytopathogenic fungi and bacteria, was created at the All-Russian Institute of Agricultural Microbiology.Methods. Field studies of the “Flavobacterin” effects on potatoes were carried out from 2018 to 2022 in an organic crop rotation located at the Experimental Station of the Institute for Engineering and Environmental Problems in Agricultural Production Branch of FSAC VIM.Results. The soil of the experimental plot is soddy-podzolic, light loamy gleyic on residual carbonate moraine loam, characterized by a slightly acidic reaction and a high content of organic matter. Udacha variety potatoes were cultivated. The studies were carried out with organic fertilizer — BIAGUM compost, prepared from chicken manure by industrial method. Potato tubers were treated with a “Flavobacterin” when planting, and then on the leaves. Weather conditions in summer during the years of research differed significantly from each other. In all years of the study, with the exception of the dry year 2021, the application of “Flavobacterin” significantly increased potato productivity by an average of 4.4 t/ha, without compost. In the same years, the use of compost together with “Flavobacterin” increased potato productivity by an average of 2.6 t/ha compared to options where compost was used without biological.