EFFECTS OF FULVIC ACID ON GROWTH AND PRODUCTIVITY OF TOMATO PLANTS

• Published in: International Multidisciplinary Scientific GeoConference : SGEM Vol. 19; no. 6.3; pp. 89 - 96
• Main Authors: Carmen, Sîrbu, Traian, Cioroianu
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: Sofia Surveying Geology & Mining Ecology Management (SGEM) 01.11.2019
• Subjects: Acidity; Acids; Agriculture; Biostimulants; Chlorophyll; Control; Crops; Dry matter; Fertilization; Fertilizer application; Fertilizers; Fulvic acids; Laboratories; Leaves; Lignite; Mineral nutrients; Nitrogen; Nitrogen content; Nutrient content; Nutrients; Organic phosphorus; Phosphorus; Photosynthesis; Potassium; Statistical analysis; Tomatoes; Variance analysis; Vegetation
• ISSN: 1314-2704
• DOI: 10.5593/sgem2019V/6.3/S08.012

The study presented in this paper is related to the extraction of humic lignite substances and the separation of fulvic acids in order to introduce them into a fertilizing matrix and to evaluate the effect on tomato culture. Fulvic acids have biostimulatory effect on agricultural crops and have significant uses in agriculture. For the characterization of fulvic acids (FA), the total acidity and content of carboxylic groups were determined. The separate fulvic acids were introduced into a matrix containing nutrients with nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (NPK). The final product containing mineral (nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium) and organic substances (fulvic acid), coded NPK-FA, was applied foliar to tomato crop in vegetation pots. In order to evaluate the effect of fulvic acids on the quality of the tomato crop, the liquid product obtained (NPK-FA) was applied foliar in 2 concentrations (1% and 2% NPK-FA) and the obtained results were related to the control fertilizer treated only with the solution containing nutrients with nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (NPK). To evaluate the effect of application, the determinations were carried out for all variations of the content of nitrogen fertilizer, phosphorus and potassium in tomato leaves and were observed the increases in the nitrogen content between 11.4% (1% NPK-FA) and 14.1% (2% NPK-FA) compared to variant control (NPK). The application of fertilizers with fulvic acid also had an influence on photosynthesis processes, evidenced by the increase of pigment content by 8.2% and 11.3% compared to the control variant (NPK). Also, the amount of dry matter of fruits treated with NPK-FA (2%) increased by 9.8% compared to the control variant (NPK). From the experiments reported for tomato crop, it was observed that the addition of the fulvic acids extracted from lignite led to the increase of the nutrient content of the leaves and of the pigment content of the leaves. From the data obtained it can be concluded that fertilizing products containing fulvic acid extract can improve the quality of tomatoes.