Crop Stimulants as a Factor Determining the Yield and Quality of Winter Wheat Grown in Notec Valley, Poland

The application of stimulants to improve growth rate and quality of crops is gaining importance. Such preparations do not harm the environment and may partly supplement the action of nutrients applied. Therefore, during 2012–2014, a study was conducted to evaluate the performance of several stimulants: an amino acid preparation, liquid fertilizer biostimulant, seaweed extract, a multiple natural foliar nanofertilizer and their combinations on wheat grain yield and quality. The results indicated that these preparations strongly influenced grain yield and baking traits such as falling number, protein content, wet gluten, sedimentation value and bread volume. The best results were obtained on using multiple natural foliar nanofertilizer + amino acid preparation, with 20.1% higher yield in 2013 and 22.6% higher yield in 2014 in comparison with the control. The most favourable values of technological features were obtained with multiple natural foliar nanofertilizer in combination with amino acid preparation or seaweed extract. Wet gluten was the highest and the protein content and bread volume were high after spraying wheat with multiple natural foliar nanofertilizer and the next values of protein content and sedimentation resulted from the use of seaweed extract. The interest in nanofertilizers and preparations that stimulate plant growth and development is increasing constantly and it may become one of the essential elements of cultivation technology in future. Broadening the knowledge on bioregulators can result in an increase in the effectiveness of agricultural production as well as in the quality of crops.