The impact of organic preparations on the growth, development and efficiency indicators of some newly produced spiked cereals (barley, emmer, triticale)

. The role of the use of preparations of organic origin in the field of horticulture is great in obtaining high and quality yield from agricultural crops, with the absence of nitrate nitrogen. It is especially important for such crops, the products of which are a source of daily human food, which in particular refers to cereals. In that sense, the effectiveness of the cultivation of several newly obtained spiked cereals (barley, emmer, triticale) under the conditions of green agriculture was studied, excluding the use of mineral fertilizers and pesticides. For this purpose, the Complex-Co preparation was used as a seed disinfectant and growth promoter at the same time, and in the later stages of growth and development, Triamine 10.2%, Bactophyte and Quisellium preparations of organic origin were used, which ensured high efficiency and the amount of residual nitrogen was reduced to a minimum.


Introduction
Quality of food supplied to people with lack of undesired substances and elements, particularly nitrate nitrogen, does have a crucial effect on the population's health support, human working ability and life quality enhancement, on the whole [1][2][3].
From this prospect, the role of green agriculture is emphasized, the main mission of which is to manufacture agricultural products without using synthetic and chemical compounds.The amount of nutrients in the food obtained this way is up to 3 times more than in the crops grown in traditional agriculture with the use of pesticides and mineral fertilizers [4][5].
Increasing the volume of cereal production is considered to be the main strategic direction of the country's agricultural development, which primarily contributes to solving the problem of food security.A country is considered to be a developed agricultural country if it has a sustainable grain economy.The increase in the volume of grain mass is largely due to the use of intensive crop cultivation technologies, which can contribute to the acceleration of the growth rate of plants and the increase of efficiency indicators [6][7].
Apart from the increase of product volumes, the qualitative indicators of the produced goods, the latter's chemical composition, reduction and further elimination of residual amounts of harmful and undesired compounds is also of utmost significance.This can be achieved due to the application of organic preparations during the plant cultivation [8][9].
Organic agriculture strictly observes to the universally recognized and approved principles adopted by the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movement (IFOAM), which are aimed at the solution of socio-economic, geographical, ethnic and cultural problems [10].
Special emphasis is put on the organic cultivation of such crops, the product of which is used as a foodstuff.In this regard too, the cereal crops take a primary position, since grain products are indispensable components of the daily human diet [11].
Organic agriculture is an ecological system of production management, which promotes biodiversity and activates vital processes in soil and plants [12].
Organic preparations not only contribute to the crops intensive growth and development, but also greatly promote the effective assimilation of microelements present in the soil.The role of micronutrients is highly important for the contemporary intensive agriculture which comes forth as a primary and main condition for rich and high-quality yield production [13].The latter, being important structural components of enzymes, also have a major role in a number of biochemical processes taking place in the plant and are very necessary throughout the whole vegetation process of crops, at all stages of growth and development [14].
Though, there is a large number of microelements in the soil (zinc, manganese, iron, copper, etc.) their solubility and availability for plants is very low [15], and the scarcity of different microelements in crops is manifested by very different from each other symptoms [16].
Increasing the volume of yield obtained from cereal crops for both food and fodder purposes and raising quality indicators is one of the priority problems of agricultural development and intensification [17].
From this point of view, it is very important to provide population with high quality food free from extraneous additives and harmful residual substances and the same quality feed should be provided for livestock branch, since the quality indicators of livestock products are related to the feed quality [18].
The greatest value of such food is that it is safe for human health, contains more vitamins, minerals and other nutrients, and is free from harmful chemicals that are used as food additives, flavorings and conservants in processed food.Besides, it provides a normal body weight, has a beneficial effect on the overall health of a person, being free from chemicals, additives, and is particularly useful for children [19].

Materials and methods
Throughout the research activities several spiked cereals produced in the ANAU Scientific Center of Agrobiotechnology (barley, emmer, triticale) have served as a study object, which against the same traditionally cultivated crop varieties, provide not only richer and higherquality yield, but also stand out for high tolerance towards the abiotic factors of the environment [20].
The stated properties of the mentioned varieties have been disclosed in the result of long-term activities and it was particularly confirmed that the latter have exceeded the common varieties of those crops by 8.5-10.2% [23].Now the aim is to study the attitude of these varieties towards preparations of organic origin and to find out what kind of efficiency they can provide if the application of mineral fertilizers is excluded during the entire vegetation period.Hence, the aim is to study the susceptibility of these varieties towards preparations of organic origin and to find out what kind of efficiency they can provide if the application of mineral fertilizers is excluded during the entire vegetation period [24][25].
The application of these preparations started with the disinfection of seeds (disinfectant of organic origin) and continued throughout the vegetation in the form of foliar feeding [26].
The preparation of organic origin Complex-Co has been applied as seeds disinfectant, which was produced in the basic research laboratory of "Acquisition and Quality Control of Agricultural Pesticides" at National Polytechnic University of Armenia Foundation, by implementing simple and affordable technology for the acidic treatment of argol/tartaricyeast sediment coming forth as a winemaking waste.
Apart from being seeds disinfectant, this preparation also serves as a plants growth stimulant and is a combination of wine treatment solution and additives (tartaric amino acid components) providing improved properties [27].
The acidic preparation of Complex-Co for the tartar/argol waste also contains microelements which serve as plant growth stimulants [28].It has a great effect on increasing the fertilization efficiency and the degree of absorption of microelements by plants, as a result of which microelements are absorbed 6-10 times better by plants [29].
The tested cereal plants were fertilized with Triamin 10.2% organic liquid fertilizer in the form of foliar feeding, which greatly contributes to the intensive accumulation of reserve organic nutrients in the tillering node, and the latter has its noticeable beneficial effect in terms of increasing grain yield [30][31].
The struggle against the fungal diseases of cereal crops (powdery mildew and leaf rust) was implemented with Bactophyte biological fungicide preparation at the beginning of stem extension stage.
Considerable increase in the grain yield of cereals is provided upon the application of Quicelium, which was done at the end of the flowering stage via foliar feeding promoting the intensive process of grain filling.
When setting up scientific experiments, similar growing and development conditions were created for all the tested crops, and all the treatment and cultivation activities stated by the agro-rules for the cultivation of these crops, were carried out [32][33][34].
The experiments have been implemented in conditions of watered, irrigated lands of the Edjmiatsin province at the RA Armavir marz/region.The sowing of winter triticale and barley was implemented every year in the second decade of October with the seeding rate of 5.0 and 6.0 mln germinable grains, while the sowing of spring emmerin the second decade of March of the following year with 4.5 mln germinable grains rate.The experiments were set up in three options/variants with four replications, whereas the size of an experimental bed was 25m 2 .To this end the seeds of the spiked cereals (barley, emmer, triticale) were subjected to pre-seeding treatment with 1.5 % solution of Comlex-Co preparation, which was primarily aimed at the struggle against the fungal diseases.The vegetation cover in the experimental beds of winter triticale was subjected to foliar feeding with 1 % of the same solution in late autumn (29.11.21) and early spring (06.03.22) at the tillering stage.

Results and Discussion
During the cultivation of cereal crops, the use of preparations of organic origin began with the disinfection of seeds, and the effect of the Comlex-Co preparation as a disinfectant and growth promoter on seed germination capacity and duration was studied, the results of which are summarized in Table 1.
Comparing the values of the control variants given in the table with the variants treated with preparations, it is evident that both the number of shoots and the percentages of field germination capacity have increased significantly.From this point of view, a particularly large increase in the number of shoots compared to the control variant was observed in barley seed crops, making 39.2 shoots, and in emmer and triticale, they made 25.6 and 27.5 more shoots, respectively.Correspondingly, the highest percentage of field germination was observed in the sowings treated with barley preparation (97.3%), surpassing the control by 6.8%.Similar patterns were also observed in the sowings of other cereal crops (emmer, triticale).Comlex-Co preparation not only contributed to a noticeable increase in the number of shoots and field germination percentages, but also significantly reduced the time between seed germination and the period from germination to plant tillering.According to the results in the variants experimented against the control one the germination duration has reduced by 2-3 days, while the period from germination to tillering decreased by 2-4 days.This preparation has served as a disinfectant and also demonstrated aftereffect of growth stimulant.Organic fertilizer of Triamin 10.2% introduced in the form of foliar feeding had a significant effect on the background of Comlex-Co preparation in the early stage of plant growth and development (tillering and spring regrowth).This is evidenced by the indicators of productive tillering introduced in Table 2, which significantly exceed the results of the control variant.The highest rate of productive tillering was observed in barley -1.31, which exceeded the control option of the same crop by 0.21, while in emmer and triticale, these differences compared to the control one were 0.12 and 0.15, respectively.
Triamin 10.2% preparation applied in the form of foliar feeding during vegetation had a noticeable effect on the number of total stems, as well as stems with spike, which is one of the primary and important prerequisites for the formation of high grain yield.The increase in the number of cereal crop total stems in the variants treated with the preparations can be attributed mainly to the aftereffect of the Complex-Co preparation, and later the intensive rate of their growth may be related to the Triamin 10.2% organic preparation.At the early growing stage Complex-Co promotes the intensive accumulation of nutrients in the tillering node, which in its turn leads to the formation of a large number of stems.It is especially well manifested in the case of triticale, increasing the number of stems with spike by 75.1 units compared to the control variant, and in the case of barley and emmer, it was 42.6 and 10.8 stems, respectively.
The large number of stems with spike formed during the vegetation period also stood out for their high growth rate, which in this case can already be attributed to the Triamin 10.2% preparation applied regularly at one-week intervals at the given growing stage.The plants of the variants treated with organic fertilizers were distinguished by their high growth rate at all growing stages, which is especially noticeable at the end of the vegetation, namely in the stage of ripening.An intensive growth of stems was observed especially in triticale, where the plants of the tested variant exceeded the control by 35.1 cm in height, and in barley and emmer, these differences were 16.7 and 7.1 cm, respectively.
At the early stages of growth and development, the formation of healthy plants and their high level of preservation is provided by the Complex-Co preparation, and during the vegetation period, the application of Bactophyte organic preparation in the form of foliar feeding, which had a significant effect on the prevention of diseases characteristic to the cereal crops.This is evidenced by the phytopathological data presented in Table 2, which clearly state that in all the crops of the variants fertilized with organic fertilizers, the infection intensity with diseases was assessed with a of 5 ball.An exception was observed in case of emmer, where a few traces of leaf rust was recorded and due to that it was scored as 4.9 ball and this was during the summer season with high amount of precipitations.The significant positive effect of bactophyte is also testified by the fact that in the control variants of cereal crops, a relatively high level of infection was observed, reaching 4.5-4.9ball, while it decreased sharply in the variants where preparations were applied.
In the grain formation and filling stages the foliar feeding of plants with Quicelium preparation had its considerable effect on the structural elements of the spike, on the mass of 1000 grains, as well as on the developed biological and actual yield quantity, the results of which are summed up in the Tables 3 and 4.
The study of data in Table 3, makes it clear that the applied agro-measures had their effect on the preservation level of the plants at the end of vegetation.From this point of view, particularly barley was distinguished, in case of which the number of preserved plants per unit area (1m 2 ) exceeded the indices of control variant by 41.1, whereas in the emmer and triticale variants it was 11.7 and 15.3 plants, respectively.
Organic preparations significantly affected the quantitative and qualitative indicators of spikes.In this regard, it should be noted that the applied agro-measures contributed to spikes/ear length as well as their weight.Thus, compared to the control variant, the length of cereal spikes increased by 0.6-1.5 cm, the weight of grains per spike increased by 0.1-0.5 g.Against the background of these agro-measures, an increase in the weight of 1000 grains of cereals by 0.2-0.5 g was also observed.Table 3.The effect of organic fertilizers on the biological yield of grain and its structural elements.

Crop Variant
The number of plants per 1 m 2 at the end of vegetation, unit The number of the stems with spike per 1m The amount of cereals grain yield per 1 m 2 was also determined, based on which the amount of biological yield was calculated.The grain yield per 1m2 in the treated variant of barley was 433.3g, which exceeded the control variant by 40.8g, in the case of emmer and triticale these indices were 22.7 and 162.8g, respectively.Based on the amount of grain and thatch yield produced per unit area (1m 2 ), the amount of biological yield was calculated.In all the indicators discussed, the options treated with organic preparations significantly exceeded the same indicators of the control variant, which consequently affected the increase in biological yield obtained in those variants, compared to the control ones.That difference is most noticeable for triticale and barley, which were 16.0 and 4.5 centner/ha, respectively, for emmer it was 1.5 centner/ha.
The actual amount of grain and thatch yield obtained was determined by the yield amount obtained from the entire experimental bed, based on which the surplus of grain yield (in centner/ha and %) against the control variants was calculated.The highest surplus in actual grain yield was observed for triticale, making 12.7 centner/ha or 30.6%, and for barley and emmer it was 3.3 centner/ha or 10.4% and 3.5 centner/ha or 14.6%, respectively.As a result of the conducted comprehensive studies, it becomes clear that the grain yield of spiked cereal crops obtained by our research group in case of using preparations of organic origin is 2.1-3.4 centner/ha more than when fertilizing the same varieties with accepted doses of mineral fertilizers [23].Here it is also necessary to mention the fact that though the quantity of grain yield is of primary importance, the quality of the obtained product is of no less importance, taking into account the amount of residual nitrogen present in its composition.Since the investigated cereals have food (emmer) and fodder (barley, triticale) significance, in both cases the acquisition of ecologically clean product is of high priority.In the latter case the grain comes forth as one of the main components of the animal feed ration, which greatly promotes the manufacture of high quality and eco-livestock product.For this purpose, an average sample was isolated from the grain yield obtained as a result of scientific experiments and subjected to laboratory examination to find out the chemical composition of the grain, emphasizing the amount of harmful nitrogen (residual nitrates) present in it, the results of which are introduced in Table 5.The laboratory examinations were carried out in the FDA laboratory of Abovyan province of Kotayk marz.

Conclusion
The energy value of food used for both food and feed purposes is first of all estimated based on the percentage content of proteins and carbohydrates present therein.In this regard, when using again organic fertilizers, according to the results of chemical analysis, considerable increase in the amount of those substances was observed in the grain composition.Thus, the protein percentage in the grains of the fertilized variants of the tested cereal crops increased by 0.9-1.5%, and carbohydrates -by 3.4-4.1%,compared to the control variants of the same crops.Here the issue related to the production of ecologically safe food and fodder is highly important, which is determined by the amount of their nitrate content.In this regard, it should be noted that a certain amount of residual nitrogen was observed in the grain yield obtained from the control variants cultivated in the traditional way, which significantly exceeded the same indicators of the variants cultivated with organic fertilizers.Thus, the amount of residual nitrates in the experimented variants crossed the minimum limit, reaching 4.1-7.8mg/kg, which was 4.6-6.8mg/kg lower than the indicators of the control variants.Thus, the results of multi-year studies confirm that organic fertilizers not only greatly increase the amount of grain yield, but also significantly improve the yield quality, making it ecologically safe and harmless to human and animal health.That is why, currently the application of such systems is highly emphasized, which is very efficient and rather prospective in the coming future.

Table 1 .
Effect of "Comlex-Co" preparation on germination and duration of germination of spiked cereals.

Table 2 .
Effect of organic fertilizers on stem extension capacity of spiked cereals.

Table 4 .
Effect of organic fertilizers on grain yield.

Table 5 .
The effect of organic fertilizers on the chemical composition of grain.