Published in Scientific Papers. Series "Management, Economic Engineering in Agriculture and rural development", Vol. 22 ISSUE 4
Written by Casiana MIHUȚ, Nicoleta MATEOC-SÎRB, Anișoara DUMA COPCEA, Lucian NIȚĂ, Adalbert OKROS, Simona NIȚĂ, Teodor MATEOC-SÎRB, Vlad MIRCOV

The most effective way to enrich the food resources necessary for humanity is to increase agricultural production per hectare, which can be achieved by introducing new cultivars and high-performance hybrids, by improving the cultivation technology, by calculating the need for nutrients in each crop, and by taking into account the crop, the expected productions and the natural fertility of the soil. This paper aims at evaluating the fertilization plans made on a farm in the town of Curtici, Arad County, Romania, in the main agricultural crops: wheat, barley, maize, and rape. During an annual vegetation cycle, there are several pheno-phases that are characterized by a differentiated consumption of nutrients, which determines the application of different types and doses of fertilizers. The farm is equipped with a series of tractors and agricultural machines with which they work the 600 ha of land and provides various mechanization services to different physical and legal people in the area. The main activity of the farm is the cultivation of cereals. The identified soils were chernozem, preluvosol and alluviosol, i.e., soils that have good and very good natural fertility. Following the calculations made, it turned out that the nutrient requirements were 57.08 t/ha of nitrogen, 78.33 t/ha of phosphorus and 29.80 t/ha of potassium. In wheat, the largest quantity in nutrients is in nitrogen, which plays an essential role in the growth phase, after which the requirement of nitrogen decreases. The productions obtained were different depending on the year, the climatic conditions and the doses of fertilizers applied: in wheat, 7.5 t/ha in 2020 and 8.0 t/ha in 2021; in grain maize, 8.0 t/ha in 2020 and 8.2 t/ha in 2021, with an average of 8.1 t/ha; in barley, between 8.1 t/ha in 2020 and 8.1 t/ha in 2021; and in rapeseed, 3.5 t/ha in 2020 and 3.6 t/ha in 2021. It was found that the application of fertilizers in the recommended doses depending on the crop, on plant growth phase, and on the plant, needs increases the production in all four crops in the study. In conclusion, the correct establishment of fertilization plans is the most useful tool in establishing the recommended fertilizers, taking into account both the natural fertility of the soils on the farm, of their plants, of their nutritional needs, of the expected productions and of the expenses necessary to purchase the fertilizers (whether organic or mineral fertilizers). Thus, making early economic decisions related to what we need to cultivate, on what surfaces, to the works involve in each crop, to the quantities of necessary fertilizers and treatments helps purchase the necessary products in due time and at better prices. This is how one saves considerable price differences, resulting in lower production costs and higher profits.

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