Americas and Oceania Group - International Plant Nutrition Institute

Eastern Europe/Central Asia
and Middle East Group
Eastern Europe & Central Asia:
Dr. Svetlana Ivanova
Evaluation of Potassium Status of Ukrainian Soils on the Basis of Modern Soil Diagnostic Techniques and Development
of Recommendations for the Rational and Efficient Application of Potassium Fertilizers
Project Leader: Miroshnichenko Nikolai, National Scientific Center Institute for Soil Science and Agrochemistry,
Kharkov, Ukraine. E-mail: ecosoil@meta.ua
Project Cooperators: Khristenko Anatoly, Nosko Boris, Gladkih Ulia, and Istomina Evgenia
In 2011, a three-year project was established in Ukraine with objectives to: a) provide an accurate
assessment of K status of arable soils, b) determine the demand for K fertilizers, c) establish the efficiency
of K fertilizers in the soils of the main soil-climatic zones, and d) work out fertilizer recommendations for
maize, wheat and sugarbeet grown on chernozems based on data obtained by improved methods for a K soil
test. Project activities included: a) field experiments on K fertilization for target crops, b) evaluation of soil K
status through summarization of database on Ukrainian soil properties and last soil survey, and c) systematic
generalization of the data obtained in long-term trails.
Statistical processing of the database on agrochemical certification of agricultural lands and the results of
field experiments yielded regression equations for changes in soil K status parameters in different climatic
zones of Ukraine. According to the prognosis developed, the average weighted content of plant-available K
forms in most Ukrainian soils will remain almost on the natural level corresponding to the average K supply
(no more than 8 to 9 mg/100 g of soil) up to 2020.
The results of trials with maize grown for silage showed a high agronomic and economic efficiency of
applying K fertilizers to chernozems. The optimization of N and P supply contributes to an increase in the
return of K fertilizers on chernozems. A mathematical model was developed for the relationship between
the yield of maize green mass and the application rates and proportions of K and NP fertilizers. The highest
economic effect was received at the application rate of 90-90-40 N-P 2 O 5 -K 2 O. Similarly, the results of trials
with sugar beet showed that the banded application of K fertilizers gave the highest effect on the yield of
tubers and the yield of sugar per ha under drought conditions of 2011 while the optimum application rate was
120-120-120 N-P 2 O 5 -K 2 O.
The comparison of the values for the content of plant-available K obtained by different methods showed
that the Chirikov method (extraction with 0.5 M acetic acid [CH 3 COOH]) recommended and used for routine
K soil test in Russia, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan usually overestimates K supply of fine-textured chernozems.
Ukraine-01 v
IPNI Interpretive Summaries 99