Biological and integrated hop protection and its impact on soil indicators

Abstract

Goal. To develop hop protection systems for the ecological production of hop products and restoration of soil biological activity. Methods. Field (examination of hop plantations, accounting and research of the dynamics of the development of harmful hop organisms, assessment of plant damage, determination of the effectiveness of drugs), laboratory (analysis of affected hop plants), weight (accounting for the preserved crop), morphophysiological (establishment of biometric parameters of plants), mathematical and statistical (evaluation of the reliability of the results obtained, establishment of correlation links and calculations). Results. The study was conducted in 2021–2025 in experimental areas of hop plantations of the Institute of Agriculture of Polissia NAAS (Zhytomyr) (soil — sod-podzolic sandy loam with heterogeneous chemical and granulometric composition of soil-forming rocks). Comparative evaluation of various systems of protection of hop plantations was carried out: biological — using biological preparations, traps, infusions of insecticidal plants; ecologized — which involved the replacement of chemical pesticides for spraying with tank mixtures of drugs of biological origin with a reduced rate of chemical pesticide, as well as the use of poisoned baits and the introduction of the poisoned with chemical insecticides moisture accumulator into the roots of the plant; traditional (intensive) — 9 sprays with recommended and registered means of protection. The accumulation of heavy metals — decomposition products of pesticides in the soil, changes in the parameters of soil agrochemical parameters, in particular, a decrease in the content of light hydrolysis nitrogen, mobile forms of phosphorus, and exchangeable potassium, were determined. It was proved that during spraying free interrows (3.0 m width) up to 40% of the working solutions of drugs enter the soil and influence its reaction. Acidification of the topsoil was noted in the version with the use of a traditional hop protection system, and a decrease in the content of easily hydrolyzed nitrogen by 32%, mobile forms of phosphorus by 13, and exchangeable potassium by 37% was recorded. Ecologized and biological systems tended to have little accumulation of these nutrients. In the versions, according to traditional and partially ecologized systems for protecting hops from harmful organisms, where chemical pesticides were used, an increase in the content of heavy metals in the soil was observed: copper, zinc, manganese, and lead. Conclusions. The biological protection system made it possible to stabilize the ecological balance in the ecosystem of hop plantations, optimize the volume of use of chemicals, and minimize the negative impact on the environment.