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Yield quality: gluten content in cereals, sugar content in sugar beet, vitamins and nitrates in vegetables.

One important feature of Albit is its positive influence on yield quality . Nowadays, one of the main problems in agriculture is gluten content in grains which determines its market price. Treatments with fungicides, herbicides and insecticides causes stress and retardation of plant growth, that leads to considerable decrease of gluten content. Finally, harvested yield has low quality. To relieve stress and increase yield quality, it is necessary to use liquid nitric fertilizers (that is quite expensive) or antistressors.

Using of bioformulatlons as an antistressors in combination with chemical pesticides is a well tested technique to increase yield quality. Being an antistressor, Albit was shown to be very effective in such role. According to data of field trials, Albit increases yield quality (gluten content in wheat by 0.5-5.1%, sugar content in sugar beet by 0.3-2.5%, content of vitamins in vegetables by 11-25 relative %). Using of Albit in mixes with chemical pesticides (fungicides, herbicides, and insecticides) provides high yield quality due to both its own stimulating activity and decreasing the stress effect of pesticides.

Presowing seed treatment with Albit influences mostly the productivity of plants; to increase gluten content, using of foliar sprayings is more effective. For example, in trials on winter wheat performed by Kursk Regional Plant Protection Station (2001-2003), presowing seed treatment with Albit increased the average gluten content in grain by 0.8% whereas foliar spraying in EC stages 20-49 increased it by 3.8%. In southern regions of Russia (Rostov oblast, Krasnodar kray), high effectiveness for increase of gluten content was demonstrated by 2nd recommended foliar spraying in EC stages 50-69.

Joint using of Albit with liquid urea and some plant growth stimulators also effectively increases yield quality. As it was shown by Agrochemical Department of Moscow State University (2000), application of Albit increased gluten content in spring wheat by 0.5%, whereas using of Albit/urea combination increased it by 0.8%.

High effectiveness of application of Albt together with urea might be explained through the tact that usual application rates of urea used in field conditions is up to 30 kg/hectare, or 10% solution approximately, whereas concentration of even 1% is considered to be toxic for plant growth. Albit relieves this toxic influence on plant growth while urea nitrogen is maximally used for protein (gluten) synthesis in grain.

Joint using of Albit with humates, as it was shown in trials in Krasnodar kray, increases average gluten content up to 5.3%, though such effect can not be provided by Aibit or humates separately (mutual enforcement of action, aka synergism phenomenon).

It is well known that infestation of grain crops with root rots leads to decrease of gluten content in grain. Thus, the hign efficiency of Albit against these diseases might also contribute to improvement of yield quality. Next, there is a speculation that biologically active sulfur and boron of Albit also participates in increase of yield quality since sulfur and chelate boron are also known to be a factors of gluten content increase. There are plenty of examples of successful Albit application to increase of gluten content. For example, collective farm Zarya and farmer Tutov A.V. of Rostov obiast were using Albit in 1999-2004.

Seeds of winter wheat were treated with Aibit + halved dose of chemical seed treatment agent. Albit was also applied together with fertilizing. The average yield in 1999-2002 was 45-49 centners/hectare, gluten content was 26-29%, gluten deformation index was 65-95. Neighbor farms which did not use Albit, harvested grain mostly of forage quality. In tests performed by Kursk Regional Plant Protection Station on winter wheat in 2002, gluten content in set with application of Albit was 30.4% that is 4.8% higher than in control (25.6%), tensility of gluten increased from 13 to 14 cm. Presowing seed treatment of spring wheat with Albit increased gluten content by 1.4% whereas foliar spraying increased it by 2,1%. In experiments of Kurgan Institute of Grain Growing, treatment of spring wheat with Albit increased gluten content from 23.4 to 26.3% in 1997, in 2001 gluten content increased by 5.1%. In Ryazan oblast (Experimental Farm Aleshkinskoe, 1998), Albit treatment increased content of protein in grain from 13.8 to 15.2%, gluten content - from 26,1 to 28.1%. Nowadays, some dealers of Albit make treaties with farms on terms of guaranteed increase of gluten content (to 28-30%) and yield on the assumption of their general scientific guidance.

Application of Albit on beer barley often raises a question about possible influence of this bioformulation on protein content in yield (analogously to wheat). Till now there were no cases of protein content excess over critical brewing threshold of 12%. Possibly, different reaction of barley and wheat to Albit treatment (regarding to protein content) depends on genetically determined features of these cultures.

Besides eared cereals, Albit also increases yield quality of the other agricultures:

• Marketability of potato tubers is increased by 9.6% (data of All-Russia Institute of PlantProtection, 2003).
• According to All-Russia Flax Institute, Albit treatment increases quality of flax fiber: percent-number is increased by 26.1-55%, number of long fiber is increased by 0.5-1.3%.
• Sugar content of sugar beet is increased by 0.3-2.5%. (According to data of trials performed by All-Russia Institute of Plant Protection, presowing seed treatment with Albit increased just yield, whereas foliar sprayings with Albit increased both yield and sugar content.)

Content of vitamins in vegetables (tomatoes, cucumbers, vegetable marrows, peppers, eggplants, lettuce, carrot, table beet) is increased averagely by 11-29 relative % under the influence of Albit; increase of ?-carotin and ascorbic acid is especially pronounced. Increase of vitamins content mainly depends on foliar spraying with Albit. In leaves of lettuce, Albit increases ascorbic acid content simultaneously with decrease of nitrates content. As result, relation between ascorbic acid and nitrates becomes higher than medical safety threshold of 2:1, i.e. Albit makes plants grown in greenhouse conditionsi safe for human consumption. Analogous effect was detected on Chinese cabbage, tomatoes, cucumbers and onion (data of All-Russia Institute of Vegetable Selection and Seed Breeding, 2001-2004). Under the influence of Albit, nitrate content decreases by 16-26 relative % in majority of vegetables. Decrease of nitrate content in leaves of onion might reach of 74-77 relative %. Also, Albit provokes increase of dry weight of onion leaves (by 7.4-10.7%), that indicates increase of their nutritive value.

Trials performed by North-Caucasian Institute of Horticulture and Viticulture of Krasnodar kray demonstrated that Albit increases weight and plumpness grape bunch by 21-24%. In apples, currant and gooseberries due to the treatment with Albit, content of vitamin C is increased by 5.8-13.8%; quality and marketability of apples and berries is also improved. Treatment with Albit decreases number of rotten and dried berries of currant and cherry and increases size of berries by 10-20% (Data of All-Russia Institute of Plant protection and All-Russia Institute of Vegetable Selection and Seed Breeding, 2001-2003), Weight of a particular strawberry is increased averagely by 1.3 g (All-Russia Institute of Horticilture, 2002)

Treatment of flowers (roses, gladioluses, pinks, cyclamens,. Kaffir lily, amaryllis, violets, etc.) with Albit besides induction blossoming improves decorative appearance, increases of number of flowers per plant, increases production of top-quality flowers (by 10-15%), provides more bright and saturated coloration of flowers and increases resistance to diseases.