Lecture
The development of agrochemistry in Russia is inseparably linked with the history and improvement of agriculture, with the formation of views on plant nutrition, with the creation of a scientific methodology for chemical and biological research, and with the introduction of quantitative methods for studying the transformation of substances. In the 14th–16th centuries, agricultural farms made increasing use of a fallow-grain system with three-field crop rotation, and the practice of manuring spread ever more widely, and so on. All this led to the improvement of agriculture and, consequently, to the enrichment of knowledge about natural phenomena. Attempts at «rational» farming aroused interest in certain agrobiological and agrochemical measures and methods. Kitchen-garden and orchard culture on noble estates and in the holdings of urban merchants, which became noticeable from the 15th–16th centuries onward, recorded the advancement of ideas about nature in the field of
botany and chemistry. The instructions of the «Domostroi», in the second half of the 16th century, pointed to the need to follow a definite method in kitchen gardening: how to dig beds, manure them, sow seeds, combat plant pests, and so on. Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov (1711–1765) was the founder of natural science in Russia. In 1753, in his work «A Discourse on Aerial Phenomena», he wrote: «The abundant growth of luxuriant trees that have fixed their roots in barren sand clearly shows that through their fatty leaves they absorb fatty nourishment from the air». Lomonosov was the first to put forward scientific hypotheses on the origin of humus and chernozem. In his book «On the Strata of the Earth» he gave the correct explanation for the origin of soil humus: «There is no doubt that chernozem is not a primordial and not a primeval substance, but arose from the decay of animal and plant bodies over time». He held that under natural conditions the same processes occur in the formation of humus as occur in cultivated soils during the decomposition of manure and the formation of arable land. In 1765 the Free Economic Society (FES) was founded, which for more than 100 years played a major role in the development of agronomic science in Russia. Works on the application of fertilizers were regularly published in the proceedings of this society. Scientific thought on questions of agronomy in Russia in the 18th century and the first half of the 19th century was concentrated around the FES, in whose work many Russian scientists actively participated and thereby enriched agronomic science. Andrei Timofeyevich Bolotov (1738–1833) — an outstanding scientist-agronomist and an active promoter of agricultural knowledge — was the author of a series of important articles on the fertilization of fields and soil fertility. He devoted much attention to local fertilizers — manure, liquid manure, ash, and lime. He wrote that in many places land could not yield good harvests without manure, yet farms had little manure because they had few livestock owing to a lack of fodder, and that to have more livestock one needed fertilizers. A way out of this vicious circle was found later, after the organization of mineral fertilizer production. A.T. Bolotov raised in print the question «...of using livestock manure to advantage in steppe and other areas where it is not customary to manure the land». Even then he saw that chernozems were being exhausted by cultivation and were in need of fertilizers. In his article «On Manure Salts» he wrote about the formation, from organic fertilizers, of nutrients available to plants. A.T. Bolotov devoted great
attention to soil fertility, holding that the first concern of tillage is the quality of the land, and that one must know «what the land is best suited for». In this he linked soil fertility with the biological characteristics of plants. He recommended determining soil quality (fertility) by conducting experiments with fertilizers. Ivan Mikhailovich Komov (1750–1792) published in 1789 the book «On Agriculture», which was of exceptional importance for that period. In it he set out the scientific foundations of agriculture. In his view, before «giving rules for how to fertilize each piece of land and what plant to sow, one must first show the principles and sources from which those rules derive». I.M. Komov described in detail the properties of various soils and gave instructions on how to determine soil fertility from morphological and geobotanical features. He gave instructions on the chemical and mechanical analysis of soils and on determining the clay, sand, lime, and humus content of the soil. «Having thus learned the properties of the land, the farmer's chief task consists in fertilizing poor land and, having fertilized it, taking care that it does not lose its good qualities». He devoted much attention to liming the soil and to the use of ash, peat, manure, and other local fertilizers: «Lime not only loosens clay soil but also destroys any acid present for the most part in clay land». Komov considered it useful to draw on the agricultural experience of England and other European countries. Anton Poshman published in 1809 the book «Instructions for the Preparation of Dry and Wet Dressings», in which he proposed the use of «dry dressings» — not, of course, modern mineral fertilizers, but chiefly ash from the burning of plants and other organic waste. Even then, noting the importance of combining manure with «dry dressings», A. Poshman recommended mixing manure with lime, refuse, ash, and dry dressings, that is, preparing various composts. He held lime in high regard: «The property of lime may be regarded as a stimulating force for plant growth». To A. Poshman belongs the idea of specially preparing artificial mineral fertilizers (the preparation of dry dressings from various organic substances). He was aware of the importance of nitrogen for plant nutrition, but mistakenly believed that ash could draw nitrogen and oxygen from the air and synthesize saltpeter. A. Poshman was not a proponent of drawing up agronomic prescriptions that could be applied directly to a farm without any adaptation to local conditions.
Matvei Ivanovich Afonin (1739–1810) was the first Russian professor to teach a course in agronomy, when its teaching began at Moscow University as early as 1770. That year, at a ceremonial assembly of Moscow University, he delivered a speech devoted to the organic matter of the soil and its significance for agriculture. Thus the second half of the 18th century may be regarded as the period in which Russian agronomic science arose. Mikhail Grigoryevich Pavlov (1793–1840), a professor at Moscow University, was an outstanding figure of the Russian agronomic school. In 1818 he was sent abroad, where he studied agronomy and worked under A. Thaer, the author of the humus theory of plant nutrition. M.G. Pavlov published the journal «The Russian Farmer», in which considerable attention was devoted to questions of agricultural chemistry. In 1825 he published a book on agrochemistry, «Agricultural Chemistry», and later «A Course in Agriculture», in which he set out his views on plant nutrition and the application of fertilizers. M.G. Pavlov adhered to Thaer's humus theory of nutrition, and his contemporaries therefore called him «the Russian Thaer». On the fertilization of soils he wrote: «To fertilize the land means to make it more fruitful than it is at present». «Land fertilization» may be carried out for the purpose of improving physical properties, removing acids, accelerating the decomposition of the soil's organic matter, or increasing fertility. The purpose of the last of these, according to Pavlov, is to increase the amount of nutrients in the soil or, at the very least, to compensate for what is removed from the land by the plants growing on it, by means of organic fertilizers. He put his views on agriculture into practice on the experimental field of the agricultural school. M.G. Pavlov was the organizer and head of this experimental field and school, and may therefore be called the first organizer of experimental work in our country. M.G. Pavlov wrote nothing about the role of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, or about mineral plant nutrition in general. He held that the material for plant nutrition consisted of «chernozem» (humus), water, and carbonic acid. Such views of M.G. Pavlov on plant nutrition could not, of course, provide a scientific explanation of the action of fertilizers. His public, experimental, and pedagogical activity was more successful. With the publication of J. von Liebig's book «Chemistry in Its Application to Agriculture and Physiology» (1840), the humus theory of plant nutrition ceased to exist. In Russian, this book
was first published in 1864. Only after the theory of chemical elements and the chemical composition of plants had been established did it become possible to create a theory of mineral plant nutrition in its modern sense. In the 1840s, experimental agrochemical study of individual types of mineral fertilizers began. Among the outstanding figures of agrochemical science in the second half of the 19th century, one should mention D.I. Mendeleev, A.N. Engelhardt, A.E. Zaikevich, and P.A. Kostychev. Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev (1834–1907) is known as a great chemist, but he was also interested in agriculture and conducted research in agrochemistry. In 1869, at the Congress of Russian Naturalists in Moscow, he delivered a report on agrochemical experiments. Many of his ideas on the production and application of fertilizers and on soil cultivation have not lost their relevance even today. The most important of them are as follows. 1. On setting up experiments to study the effectiveness of fertilizers in different zones of Russia. In his report «On the Organization of Agricultural Experiments», at a meeting of the 1st Division of the Free Economic Society (3 April 1866), he clearly set out his thinking: «Experiments... are necessary for us, both so as to learn more closely the conditions of Russian agriculture and so as to select, from scientific conclusions, those that are advantageous for agriculture. Such experiments can also serve science itself considerably, if they are conducted by rigorous methods». D.I. Mendeleev managed to set up experiments in only four locations (in the provinces of Moscow, St. Petersburg, Simbirsk, and Smolensk), but these were genuine agrochemical experiments involving a detailed study of the soil with respect to its composition and the influence of fertilizer and climate upon it. The experiments were of positive significance from a methodological standpoint. D.I. Mendeleev said that experiments must be scientific, with a broad program and a large number of replications, and that carelessly conducted experiments were only harmful. As a representative of exact experimental science, he believed that exact sciences should be applied to agriculture, pointed to the need for replication in field experiments, and to the importance of the mathematical processing of experimental results. 2. On the need for the widespread use of mineral fertilizers in agriculture. D.I. Mendeleev said: «The use of artificial fertilizers makes it possible to quickly remedy the shortcomings
of the soil, to replace manure with various waste materials, and makes it possible to bring cultivation to the highest degree of perfection despite all the deficiencies of the soil». He pointed out that soils become exhausted and require the addition of nutrients, but that manure is scarce, so other sources of nutrients for plants must be found. It was for this purpose that the Free Economic Society's experiments with mineral fertilizers were set up. D.I. Mendeleev proposed that the greatest attention be paid to phosphorus fertilizers and to «alkali-potash» (potassium) fertilizers. He attached particular importance to the study of the forms of fertilizers, writing that the chemical form of nutritive substances should be given primary attention in questions of fertilization. 3. On the integrated use of various methods of raising a crop. In agronomic science, D.I. Mendeleev assigned a central place to agrochemistry and held that scientific principles in agriculture had come to spread thanks to the interest of chemists, and that the fundamental propositions of agrochemical science — the return of nutrients, the theory of fertilization, the theory of nutrition — were derived from chemical research. D.I. Mendeleev believed that there was no need to fear the exhaustion of soils, since future generations would find the substances necessary for plant nutrition to apply to the soil. He championed the wide use in agriculture of manure, nitrogen fertilizers, and lime, which gave a high effect in the Non-Chernozem zone, and somewhat underestimated phosphorus fertilizers, which acted weakly in his experiments. Alexander Nikolayevich Engelhardt (1832–1893), professor of chemistry at the St. Petersburg Agricultural Institute, a contemporary of D.I. Mendeleev, was one of the foremost public figures of his time. He left a deep mark on the history of Russian agrochemistry, proving the effectiveness of phosphorus fertilizers in Russian agriculture. A.N. Engelhardt conducted extensive research on the use of phosphorites as fertilizer, surveying phosphorite deposits in the provinces of Kursk, Smolensk, Oryol, and Voronezh. As a result of his work and the general enthusiasm for the application of mineral fertilizers, the development of phosphorite deposits began in Russia, and in 1868–1869 the first fertilizer plants for grinding phosphorite flour started operation. On the basis of his research into phosphorites, A.N. Engelhardt concluded: «In phosphorite flour we have a powerful means for developing our wastelands, which make up the greater part of the land in northern Russia». The zone of effective
application of phosphorite flour (sod-podzolic soils) was called by D.N. Pryanishnikov the «Engelhardt zone of phosphorite-flour application». A.N. Engelhardt was the first to take a correct approach to the application of mineral fertilizers and grass sowing, combining soil phosphorization with the use of green manuring to enrich the soil with nitrogen. In his book «The Chemical Foundations of Agriculture» he pointed to the necessity of returning to the soil the nutrients removed by plants with the harvest, since when a field is fertilized with manure only part of the nutrients contained in the hay and straw is returned to the soil, while the rest of the nutrients, contained in the grain, in livestock, and in dairy products, are not returned to the soil. He saw the effectiveness of fertilizers as depending above all on the presence of assimilable nutrients in the soil: for plants to grow and give a harvest it is not enough for nutrient elements simply to be present in the environment in which the plants live — «these elements must be present in the form of compounds suitable for plant nutrition». A.N. Engelhardt sought to train a corps of enlightened farmers. His name is associated with the organization of agricultural experimental work in the northern Non-Chernozem belt of Russia. Anastasii Yegorovich Zaikevich (1842–1931), professor at Kharkov University, was the first to establish that chernozems, despite their high humus content, respond excellently to mineral fertilizers. A.E. Zaikevich laid the scientific foundations for fertilizer-application technique (mechanized local, row application of fertilizers). His role in organizing experimental work in Russia was considerable. He conducted successful experiments not only with fertilizers but also in agrotechnique, studying the dependence of the yield of various plant varieties on fertilizers, fallow-field cultivation, plowing depth, and so on. Pavel Andreyevich Kostychev (1845–1895) — a brilliant teacher, popularizer, and organizer, and an outstanding researcher and expert on the chernozem soils of Russia. In his classic work «The Soils of the Chernozem Region of Russia: Their Origin, Composition, and Properties» he developed the theory of the factors of chernozem formation. P.A. Kostychev's studies of the phosphate regime of soils and the application of phosphorus fertilizers were of great importance. In his work «On Which Soils Phosphorite Flour Increases Yields: A Study of Podzol and the Reasons for Its Improvement by Phosphorite Flour», he noted that podzolic soils contain a large amount of organic phosphates.
P.A. Kostychev's views on the mineralization of soil organic matter, on the role of the soil absorbing complex, of the absorbed bases and the soil solution, on the formation of soil structure, and on the mobilization of the natural reserves of the soil, largely coincide with present-day conceptions. He noted that the mobilization of soil nutrients does not make it possible to dispense with fertilizers. «In the cultivation of agricultural plants it has long been noticed that any soils from which harvests are obtained over a more or less long succession of years become exhausted, that is, they begin to yield smaller and smaller harvests» (Kostychev, 1908). P.A. Kostychev was the first Russian agromicrobiologist, laying the foundation for the biological direction in agronomic chemistry, which was further developed in the work of P.S. Kossovich and D.N. Pryanishnikov and his school. At the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, independent research in agrochemistry unfolded in Russia. Kliment Arkadyevich Timiryazev (1843–1920) influenced, through his work, the development not only of plant physiology but of the whole of our agronomic science. He held Liebig's contribution to the development of the ideas of rational agriculture in high esteem. K.A. Timiryazev regarded as a fundamental law his own propositions on the need to return to the soil the nutrients that are removed with the harvest and are lacking in it, and on the dependence of yield upon the nutrient present in the minimum. He saw the chief means of raising the productivity of agriculture in clover sowing and the application of mineral fertilizers. K.A. Timiryazev attached great importance to the biological synthesis of nitrogen by legumes, and he called the possibility of obtaining nitrogen fertilizers from atmospheric nitrogen a striking achievement of scientific creativity, promising a sharp turn in agriculture. He advocated testing scientific achievements in the field and the wide establishment of field experiments on farms. In the field experiment he saw the best means of suggesting to the peasant the idea of repeating it on his own farm. K.A. Timiryazev considered it necessary to make wider use of the vegetation (pot-culture) method. The first vegetation house in Russia was built by him in 1872 at the Petrovsky Agricultural Academy. Subsequently, methods of isolated plant nutrition were developed (I.S. Shulov), the method of flowing solutions (first applied by P.S. Kossovich), and the method of sterile cultures in D.N. Pryanishnikov's laboratory (I.S. Shulov and G.G. Petrov).
Dmitri Anatolyevich Sabinin (1889–1951) left bright pages in the history of the development of the fundamental principles of agrochemistry, in particular on questions of the mineral nutrition of plants. The main direction of D.A. Sabinin's scientific work was an in-depth study of the physiology of the root system, its permeability, and its ability to absorb, excrete, and process mineral substances and certain organic compounds. In essence, this work marked the beginning of a new direction in the study of mineral plant nutrition, establishing the notion of the synthetic capacity of the root system. The results of D.A. Sabinin's many-sided scientific activity were published in his numerous scientific works. Especially high praise was earned by his monograph «The Physiological Foundations of Plant Nutrition», published after the scientist's death in 1955. D.A. Sabinin also carried out very productive scientific and pedagogical activity, especially while heading the laboratory of plant physiology at the All-Union Institute of Fertilizers, Agrotechnics, and Agrosoil Science (VIUA) (1932–1941) and the department of plant physiology at Moscow State University named after M.V. Lomonosov. D.A. Sabinin's ideas were further developed in the research of I.I. Kolosov, N.Z. Stankov, I.V. Mosolov, and others. Dmitri Anatolyevich's students and followers spoke of their teacher with great warmth and affection, describing him as a charming, warm-hearted person, a bold scientific innovator, an original thinker and researcher, and a talented teacher of whom Russian science is justly proud. Pyotr Samsonovich Kossovich (1862–1915) — an outstanding researcher and public figure — was distinguished by the breadth and variety of the questions he studied and by their practical orientation. He confirmed D.N. Pryanishnikov's conclusion on the possibility of plant nutrition by ammoniacal nitrogen by conducting direct experiments under sterile conditions that excluded the process of nitrification of ammonium nitrogen. This was of great practical significance, since it opened up prospects for the development of production and the wide use of ammoniacal fertilizers. P.S. Kossovich established that legumes assimilate free nitrogen through their roots. It follows that the most probable site of nitrogen synthesis in plants is the roots, on which the nodules are located. In studying the assimilation of free nitrogen, he showed that the biological synthesis of nitrogen can also be carried out by free-living bacteria — Azotobacter and Clostridium.
P.S. Kossovich discovered that the ability of plants to assimilate phosphorus from sparingly soluble phosphates depends on the biological characteristics of the plants, the type of soil, and the accompanying fertilizers. In studying clover-sickness of the soil, he proved by vegetation (pot-culture) experiments that its main cause is a lack of nutrients in the soil, above all phosphorus and potassium. The application of mineral fertilizers, especially phosphorus fertilizers, to clover is an effective measure against clover-sickness, since it increases plant resistance to unfavorable growing conditions. P.S. Kossovich succeeded in experimentally resolving such a practically important question for agriculture as the biological immobilization of soil nitrogen when straw or fresh, unrotted manure is applied, by means of an interesting experiment with two plants — oats and vetch. Adding straw to the soil reduced the yield of oats but did not reduce the yield of vetch, which obtained its yield from atmospheric nitrogen. This made it possible to scientifically justify methods of properly storing manure and using it as fertilizer. A great achievement of P.S. Kossovich was the organization of the publication of the «Journal of Experimental Agronomy», which for many years was the only periodical scientific-agronomic journal in Russia. P.S. Kossovich's range of interests was very broad. He was not only an agrochemist, soil scientist, and physiologist, but also one of the first Russian geochemists. To him belongs a work on the cycle of sulfur and chlorine in nature. He showed that, as the number of plants and factories increased, so did the amount of sulfur entering the soil from the atmosphere. Konstantin Kaetanovich Gedroits (1872–1932) — a student of P.S. Kossovich, an original researcher and a profound thinker. K.K. Gedroits's research work included the development of vegetation-experiment methodology, soil phosphorization and liming, the determination of clover's phosphate requirements, the theory of soil solonetzicity, and others. K.K. Gedroits gained worldwide fame for his work on the soil absorbing complex and the sorption capacity of soils, which he began in 1910. K.K. Gedroits's theory is most fully set out in the works «The Theory of Soil Absorption Capacity» and «The Soil Absorbing Complex and Absorbed Soil Cations as the Basis of a Genetic Soil Classification». He also wrote «Chemical Analysis of Soils». These works played a prominent role in the development of soil science and agrochemistry, and in the theoretical justification of soil liming and the chemical amelioration of solonetzes.
Dmitri Nikolayevich Pryanishnikov (1865–1948) — the founder of Soviet agrochemistry — established the theory of ammoniacal and nitrate plant nutrition and gave exhaustive recommendations on the production and application of ammoniacal fertilizers. He carried out classic work on the theory of nitrogen metabolism. To D.N. Pryanishnikov belongs the credit for a thorough justification of the conditions for the effective application of phosphorites on acid soils, for propositions on the increasing fertility of soils, and on the biological use of atmospheric nitrogen in combination with the nitrogen of mineral fertilizers. There is practically no theoretical direction in the development of agrochemistry as a science, or in the practice of the chemicalization of agriculture, that has not been actively influenced by the work of D.N. Pryanishnikov and his students. He was an active promoter of everything new and progressive, and boldly opposed mistaken positions in science and everything that hindered the scientific and technical progress of agriculture and held back the development of the chemical industry for the production of mineral fertilizers. D.N. Pryanishnikov urged that one should not wait and remain idle until plants for fixing atmospheric nitrogen had been built and superphosphate had become generally available, but should act immediately, knowing that every lupin bush is, in essence, a miniature plant for utilizing atmospheric nitrogen, working for free at the expense of solar energy. There was, perhaps, no problem in agrochemistry that was not studied in D.N. Pryanishnikov's laboratory. In the first years of Soviet power he called for the maximal use of local fertilizers — ash as a source of potassium, calcium, and other ash elements — and showed concern for the proper storage of manure, for composting it with peat, and for the use of lime on acid soils, and so on. He took an active part in organizing the Geographic Network of Fertilizer Experiments in our country and actively championed the need to expand the sowing of leguminous crops (characteristic of crop-rotation systems, especially clover and lucerne), which substantially improve the nitrogen and humus balance of the soil. He spoke out against skeptics who underestimated the effectiveness of mineral fertilizers on our low-fertility lands, as well as against extreme proponents of grassland farming — opponents of the accelerated development of the chemicalization of agriculture in our country. As early as 1937, D.N. Pryanishnikov wrote: «As for those authors who believe... that they know some secret for obtaining high yields without applying the corresponding
amounts of fertilizer (and without any knowledge of agrochemistry), one can only say of such authors that they consider themselves materialists in vain». He urged that the concepts of «grassland farming» and «the cultivation of leguminous grasses in fields» not be confused, and championed the expansion of sowings of the latter, especially in moist regions, and of grain legumes in all the agricultural regions of the country. D.N. Pryanishnikov was the first in our country to begin training cadres of agronomist-agrochemists. He is the author of the fundamental handbook «Agrochemistry», in which many years of world experience in fertilizer application is presented and the theoretical foundations of agrochemistry are formulated in close connection with the biochemistry and physiology of plants. The 20th century was marked by major achievements in the development of the fundamental principles of agrochemistry, in the practice of the chemicalization of agriculture, and in the improvement of the methodology of agrochemical research. Thus, developing the theory of plant nitrogen nutrition, G.G. Petrov published in 1917 the results of an experimental-critical study in the book «The Assimilation of Nitrogen by Higher Plants in Light and in Darkness», where he showed in detail the entire course of the transformation of nitrogen in the plant from the moment of its absorption to its conversion into protein substance. G.G. Petrov's research constitutes a major contribution to the development of fundamental agrochemistry. In 1913, Ivan Semyonovich Shulov (1874–1940) published the results of his experimental work in the book «Studies in the Physiology of Nutrition of Higher Plants by Means of the Methods of Isolated Nutrition and Sterile Cultures». Using sterile cultures, I.S. Shulov studied in detail the questions of the favorable influence of ammonium nitrate on the use of sparingly soluble phosphates by higher plants; the development and morphological features of the root system and aerial organs under different nitrogen nutrition regimes; the assimilation by higher plants of the nitrogen of asparagine; the absorption by plants of the phosphoric acid of organic compounds; as well as questions concerning organic root exudates and the use by plants of (NH4)2SO4. In his research he explained the dissolving action of NH4NO3 on sparingly soluble phosphates by the fact that, when it is applied, plant roots release more organic acids. A substantial contribution to solving the problem of plant nitrogen nutrition was made by Ivan Georgiyevich Dikusar (1897–1973) — an outstanding agrochemist, a student and follower of D.N. Pryanishnikov.
He conducted his research both at VIUA and at the plant nutrition station of the K.A. Timiryazev Moscow Agricultural Academy. He presented his results in his doctoral dissertation «Nitrogen Nutrition of Plants and Yield», which he defended in 1945. This work was highly praised by D.N. Pryanishnikov, D.A. Sabinin, A.I. Oparin, and others, who noted that I.G. Dikusar's work represented an «extraordinary phenomenon in our scientific literature». The scientific propositions set out by I.G. Dikusar in his work were comprehensively tested and confirmed by precise experiment, and were consistently and purposefully directed both toward the development of questions in the theory of plant nutrition and toward the demands of practice for a more rational use of fertilizers. Giving parting advice to students on their graduation from Moscow University, he said: «An agrochemist must concern himself not only with scientific problems but also with the training of other agrochemists who will carry on the work of their teachers. It is necessary that our children and grandchildren come to love agrochemistry, for the future belongs to agrochemistry» (1978). With these words he, in essence, expressed the substance of his whole life and fruitful scientific activity. The research of A.V. Vladimirov (1904–1952) also exerted a great influence on the development of the theory of plant nutrition. He published the results of the research work carried out by A.V. Vladimirov and his colleagues (from 1926 to 1946) in the monograph «The Physiological Foundations of the Application of Nitrogenous and Potassium Fertilizers» (1948). In the book, A.V. Vladimirov showed: 1. The conditions influencing the entry into plants of ammoniacal and nitrate nitrogen: the effect of accompanying cations and anions; the peculiarities of biochemical processes in individual plants, of the aeration of the nutrient solution, of the reaction of the medium, and so on; 2. The influence of the forms of potassium salts on the metabolism of substances in plants, on the transformation of carbohydrates and the accumulation of sugars in the roots of sugar beet, and the influence of salt anions on the process of sugar accumulation in plants; 3. The role of ammoniacal and nitrate nitrogen, potassium, and other elements in metabolism, and in the formation and accumulation in plants of oxidized and reduced organic compounds. The theoretical propositions developed by A.V. Vladimirov concerning the correct combination of ammoniacal and nitrate nitrogen with elements of ash nutrition make it possible to substantially raise the yield of plants and improve their quality.
A major contribution to the development of agronomic science and, in particular, to the elaboration of the theory of plant nitrogen nutrition and the practice of fertilizer application, was made by the work of the outstanding agrochemist Fyodor Vasilyevich Turchin (1902–1965). Let us cite the most important results of his research: 1. Liquid nitrogen fertilizers (ammonia and ammoniates) give the same effect as ordinary «solid» nitrogen fertilizers, since when placed at a depth of 10–12 cm they are adsorbed by soil colloids and practically no loss of nitrogen occurs. 2. The ammoniation of superphosphate with liquid nitrogen fertilizers makes it possible to obtain a product of high fertilizing value and excellent physical properties. 3. A new conception was introduced of the significance of potassium in nitrogen and carbohydrate metabolism and in the synthesis of nitrogenous organic compounds, and the specific role of potassium and phosphorus in nitrate and ammoniacal plant nutrition was established. F.V. Turchin showed that a lack of potassium under conditions of ammoniacal nutrition causes an abundant accumulation of ammonia in plants, leading to ammonia poisoning and even to the complete death of the plants. At the same time, the content of reducing sugars in the plant not only does not decrease but, on the contrary, increases significantly. F.V. Turchin attributed the effect of potassium on ammonia assimilation to its influence on the chemical activity of carbohydrates. For this reason, when potassium is deficient in the plant, the rate of amino-acid synthesis and protein renewal slows down. 4. F.V. Turchin was the initiator of the widespread use of isotopic and spectroscopic research methods in agrochemical research, which enabled him to carry out classic studies in the field of plant nitrogen nutrition and nitrogen metabolism. 5. He uncovered the laws governing the synthesis and metabolism of proteins and chlorophyll in plants, and showed that protein synthesis begins with the formation of the constitutive proteins of the protoplasm. Reserve proteins are formed as a result of the transformation of constitutive proteins, which are drawn into the general metabolism of the plant organism and are continuously renewed. 6. Using the chromatographic method, F.V. Turchin established the sequence of synthesis of individual amino acids from ammonia entering the plant: alanine is synthesized first, followed by the dicarboxylic amino acids — aspartic and glutamic acids. The basic and aromatic amino acids are synthesized at later stages.
7. In studying the processes of biological nitrogen fixation and the enzymatic synthesis of nitrogenous compounds, F.V. Turchin presented a scheme for the fixation of atmospheric nitrogen in the nodules of leguminous plants. Subsequently, a considerable contribution to solving the problem of nitrogen in agriculture was made by P.A. Baranov, D.A. Korenkov, P.M. Smirnov, N.A. Sapozhnikov, and others. In the 20th century, a number of important studies on the problems of phosphorus and potassium in agriculture were carried out by A.N. Lebedyantsev, F.V. Chirikov, A.V. Sokolov, and other scientists. Alexander Nikandrovich Lebedyantsev (1878–1941) made a substantial contribution to the development of agrochemical research. 1. Together with D.N. Pryanishnikov he organized the Geographic Network of Field Experiments, thanks to which a geographic pattern was established in the action of mineral fertilizers, and their requirements were determined both regionally and for the country as a whole, which served as the basis for the development of the chemical industry for the production of mineral fertilizers. 2. A.N. Lebedyantsev studied thoroughly and was the first to demonstrate convincingly the possibility of successfully applying phosphorite flour on degraded and leached chernozems as well as on deep, humus-rich chernozems, which made it possible to sharply raise the yield of agricultural crops on these soils. This research expanded the possibilities of supplying domestic agriculture with phosphorus fertilizers. D.N. Pryanishnikov named this new area of phosphorite-flour application the «Lebedyantsev zone». Previously, phosphorization had been carried out in the zone where sod-podzolic soils are found — in the so-called «Engelhardt zone». 3. A.N. Lebedyantsev devoted much attention to the question of nitrification as a powerful factor in enhancing the ash nutrition of plants. 4. A.N. Lebedyantsev carried out a large volume of research to determine the role of soil drying in raising its fertility, and came to the conclusion that, under natural conditions, the process of soil drying plays a major role, hitherto quite unexamined, in all the processes of raising soil fertility that are achieved by methods of mechanical soil cultivation. A substantial contribution to the study of the phosphate regime of soils and to raising the effectiveness of phosphorus fertilizers was made by Fyodor Vasilyevich Chirikov (1883–1964).
Determining the content of CaO and P2O5 in plant ash, and analyzing the CaO:P2O5 ratio, and comparing these data with the responsiveness of various plants to the phosphorus of phosphorites, he established that if the CaO:P2O5 ratio is low (1.3 or less), as for example in cereals, plants do not respond to phosphorite as a fertilizer; at a ratio greater than 1.3 (buckwheat, peas, mustard, lupin) plants assimilate the P2O5 of the phosphorite. In studying the assimilation by plants of the P2O5 of soil phosphorites, F.V. Chirikov divided them into five groups according to solubility. This method was used to justify the differentiated application of phosphoric fertilizers on different soils, and also in studying the phosphorus regime of soils and the features of phosphate transformation in the soil under long-term application of phosphorus fertilizers on different soil types. He studied in detail the processes of phosphate transformation in the soil when granulated superphosphate is used, the action of phosphorus fertilizers in crop rotation, and the duration of action of various phosphates. A significant contribution to solving the problem of phosphorus in agriculture, and to the development of agronomy as a whole, was made by Andrei Vasilyevich Sokolov (1898–1980) — an outstanding agrochemist and organizer of the science and practice of the chemicalization of agriculture. He set out his views and the results of his agrochemical research in the book «The Agrochemistry of Phosphorus» (1950). Andrei Vasilyevich emphasized the importance and indispensability of phosphorus in human life: «Man cannot move, eat, reproduce, breathe, or think without numerous processes taking place in his organism in which phosphorus actively participates» (p. 7). And in this connection the problem of phosphorus in agriculture is especially topical. A.V. Sokolov noted that the optimization of the phosphorus nutrition of plants is a most fascinating area of agronomic chemistry, one that cannot be achieved without an adequate approach to phosphorus fertilizers. He pointed to the close interrelation of nitrogen and phosphorus nutrition in plants, to the fact that these elements enter into the composition of the same compounds and are closely interconnected in metabolism. Andrei Vasilyevich also devoted much attention to the practical questions of applying phosphorus fertilizers, showing that they increase the sugar content in beets and the starch content in potatoes, accelerate the development of cucumbers and tomatoes, increase the proportion of legumes in grass mixtures, thereby raising the quality of hay in terms of protein content, and so on.
He comprehensively studied the role of phosphates under arid conditions, where plants make poor use of soil phosphates and are in greater need of the phosphorus in fertilizers, which promotes the growth of the root system and accelerates plant development. A.V. Sokolov also investigated the relationship between the phosphorus nutrition of plants and the liming of sod-podzolic soils, and noted that when soils are limed, plants make use, over the course of decades, of considerably more phosphates than without lime, which is explained by the better assimilability of calcium phosphates than of the phosphates of sesquioxides; liming destroys the active forms of aluminum and iron, decomposes organic phosphates, and the gradually hydrolyzing phosphates of sesquioxides are converted into calcium phosphates that are available to plants. A.V. Sokolov also gave attention to analyzing the reasons for the higher effectiveness of granulated phosphorus fertilizers when applied locally. He explained this phenomenon by the supply of nutrients to young plants through bringing the fertilizer closer to the young roots, by a reduction in the retrogradation of soil phosphates, and also by a resulting reduction in the biological fixation of phosphates by soil microbes. Of great scientific and practical interest are A.V. Sokolov's works «Essays on the History of Agronomic Chemistry in the USSR» (1958) and «Geographic Patterns in Fertilizer Effectiveness» (1968), in which he presents the results of a study of the geography of fertilizer action on various soil types. Oscar Karlovich Kedrov-Zikhman (1885–1964) made a great contribution to solving the problem of liming acid soils. In his monograph «The Responsiveness of Agricultural Plants to Liming in Relation to Soil Acidity and the Degree of Base Saturation of Soils» (1934), on the basis of his research, he drew the highly important conclusion that magnesium-containing rocks could be more widely used for liming acid soils, and showed the reactions of agricultural crops to soil acidity and to the composition of absorbed cations in connection with liming. The use of dolomitized limestones and dolomites doubled the country's reserves of liming raw material. On the question of the use of magnesium in the liming of acid soils, he published a number of works: «The Significance of Magnesium in Lime Fertilizers» (1940), «The Influence of Soil Liming on the Size and Quality of the Harvest Depending on the Magnesium Content of the Liming Material and
application of boron» (1948) and «Magnesium and boron as factors increasing the effectiveness of liming» (1940). Oskar Karlovich paid particular attention to studying the effect of micronutrients on cultivated plants under conditions of liming acidic sod-podzolic soils. The results of the research showed that boron fertilizers enhance the positive effect of lime, and that boron and magnesium, when liming soil, act in the same direction: they increase the starch content in potato tubers, the sugar content—in sugar beet roots, and the fat content—in seeds, improving their quality. A positive effect of cobalt under liming conditions on the yield of most agricultural crops was also revealed, as well as an increase in the mobility of molybdenum upon liming of soils, which makes it possible to reduce the application of molybdenum fertilizers. At the same time, zinc compounds, like boron, cobalt and manganese, become less mobile and less available to plants upon liming. Based on the results of this research a series of works was published that have not lost their relevance even today. Agrochemists of the country also carried out extensive and fruitful work studying the application of organic fertilizers. The leading role in solving this problem belonged to the VIUA Laboratory of Organic Fertilizers headed by I.P. Mamchenkov. Ivan Prokhorovich Mamchenkov (1896-1980) headed the Laboratory of Organic Fertilizers for 40 years from the founding of VIUA in 1931. The most important results of a large number of multifaceted studies on organic fertilizers are as follows: 1. An assessment of various methods of manure storage showed that under the aerobic method of manure storage, in order to avoid nitrogen losses, it is necessary to compost it with superphosphate and phosphate rock meal. 2. Upon self-heating of peat and peat-manure composts to 60-70°C, the content of ammonium and easily hydrolyzable nitrogen in them increases significantly. 3. Composting manure with phosphate rock meal increases the rate of its humification, reduces the nitrogen losses of the manure, and increases the utilization coefficient of the phosphorus of the phosphate rock meal. Composting manure with superphosphate also sharply reduces nitrogen losses.
4. A study of various types of bedding materials (straw, wood shavings, peat, etc.) showed that it is economically most expedient to use straw and peat as bedding, since the mobilization of peat nitrogen is achieved by composting it with manure, liquid manure, and various wastes of agricultural and municipal economy. The possibility of using sewage sludge as fertilizer was studied, and it was proved that the combined application of organic and mineral fertilizers in crop rotation is most advantageous. 5. On the basis of an in-depth study of the processes occurring during manure storage, the most rational methods of preparing and storing manure were developed and put into practice, including its composting with phosphate rock meal and superphosphate and with various organic components, which made it possible to obtain fertilizers of high quality. Significant work on the storage and application of manure, besides I.P. Mamchenkov, was carried out by F.T. Periturin, M.A. Egorov, I.F. Romashkevich and others. Besides D.N. Pryanishnikov, the effective use of green manure was actively studied by E.K. Alekseev, S.P. Kulzhinsky, V.N. Prokoshev, F.F. Yukhimchuk and others. The results of their research still have great scientific and practical significance today. In the first half of the 20th century the need arose to study and widely test the effectiveness of micronutrient fertilizers. The works of Ya.V. Peive, M.Ya. Shkolnik, E.V. Bobko, O.K. Kedrov-Zikhman, A.V. Sokolov, P.A. Vlasyuk, M.V. Katalymov and many other scientists were devoted to studying the influence of micronutrients on plant growth and development, the biochemical processes in plant organisms, and the conditions for the high effectiveness of micronutrient fertilizers in various soil-climatic zones of the Soviet Union. The questions of the action of boron fertilizers, especially under liming conditions, were studied most thoroughly. A high effectiveness of copper fertilizers on peat soils was established. In sugar beet farms a high effectiveness of manganese fertilizers was revealed. On the basis of this research, the application of boron, copper and manganese fertilizers began to be widely introduced in the country's agriculture. Later a high effectiveness of zinc fertilizers was established, especially on carbonate chernozems, as well as of molybdenum, primarily for legume crops. Mention should be made of the fundamental works of Yan Voldemarovich Peive (1906-1976) on the study of the role of micronutrients in
plant nutrition and in nitrogen fixation by nodule bacteria. This scientist is deservedly considered the founder of the doctrine of micronutrients in our country. Let us briefly list the most significant scientific achievements of Ya.V. Peive: 1. In 1933-1934 he developed a new method for determining mobile potassium in soils, which played a substantial role in improving agrochemical service and was subsequently included in agrochemistry textbooks. 2. An analysis of the results of hundreds of field and production experiments with micronutrients was presented by Ya.V. Peive in a number of major scientific works: «Microelements and Enzymes» (1960), «Biochemistry of Soils» (1961), «A Guide to the Application of Micronutrient Fertilizers» (1963) and others. 3. Heading the scientific work of the Laboratory of Biochemistry of Microelements (organized by him in 1962 as part of the K.A. Timiryazev Institute of Plant Physiology of the USSR Academy of Sciences), he carried out fundamental studies on metalloenzymes related to the nitrogen metabolism of plants. A large series of works was devoted to metal-containing proteins involved in the processes of symbiotic nitrogen fixation in the nodules of legume plants, and new, previously unknown links of the process of biological nitrogen fixation were revealed, which not only enriched the theory but also demonstrated the practical possibility of intensifying this process by regulating the conditions of plant mineral nutrition. 4. Under various soil-climatic conditions, the influence on the assimilability of soil micronutrients of the soil reaction, its oxidation-reduction conditions, the content of organic matter in the soil, soil liming and the application of organic and mineral fertilizers was studied. 5. Yan Voldemarovich thoroughly studied the participation of micronutrients in biochemical processes in plants and in the soil, conducting research at the intersection of such sciences as agrochemistry, biochemistry, analytical chemistry, soil science and plant physiology. 6. Under the direction of Ya.V. Peive, methods were developed for determining the content in soil of forms of micronutrients assimilable by plants, and methods for the mass analysis of soils for micronutrient content, which became widely used in solving the practical problems of increasing the productivity of agriculture. Agrochemical research in our country was conducted in close connection with problems of agricultural soil science: the study of the physical, physico-chemical and other properties of soils was linked to the responsiveness
of agricultural crops to fertilizers under various soil-climatic conditions. As a result, a scientific-methodological basis was created for the successful development of chemicalization in the areas of cotton, sugar beet and other crop cultivation. Scientists such as N.P. Karpinsky, V.A. Frantseson, N.K. Balyabo and others generalized the materials of soil-agrochemical surveys, developed agro-soil zoning of the European part of the USSR and the irrigated regions of Central Asia, and compiled soil maps on this basis. Significant studies were carried out by V.A. Frantseson and N.K. Balyabo in the Trans-Volga region on the dynamics of changes in the agrophysical properties and salinization of soils. On the basis of the results of experiments with fertilizers on different soils, N.P. Karpinsky established that the effect of fertilizers depends not only on the genesis of the soil but also on its degree of cultivation. A similar relationship was revealed by the studies of A.F. Tyulin, P.I. Andrianov and E.N. Gapon on soil colloids, the physical and physico-chemical properties of soils, and the mechanism of soil sorption of cations and anions of salts under the influence of wetting and drying of soils. Agricultural soil scientists of Russia developed various methods for determining the mobility of soil nutrient elements. N.P. Karpinsky and V.P. Zamyatina established a relationship between the concentration of phosphate ions in a salt extract (0.03 N K2SO4) and the availability of phosphorus to plants. To determine the degree of mobility of potassium, A.P. Golubeva proposed the value of the concentration of potassium in a 0.003 N CaCl2 extract. Studies were also carried out on the reclamation of chloride-sulfate solonetzic soils of the chestnut-soil zone under conditions of irrigated and rain-fed farming (N.K. Balyabo, B.S. Gutina and others). Extensive work on studying the fertility of virgin and long-fallow lands and its changes in the first years after ploughing was conducted under the direction of Vladimir Andreevich Frantseson (1902-1961). Having headed the Laboratory for the Study of the Fertility of Chernozem-Zone Soils since 1937, he studied the water properties in the course of drying and wetting of chernozem soils and summarized the results of this research in his doctoral dissertation «Changes in the Agronomically Important Properties of Chernozem under the Influence of Drying and Wetting», which he successfully defended in 1948. The work confirmed the conclusions of A.N. Lebedyantsev on the substantial increase in the mobility of nutrient elements under the influence of drying and wetting
of soil, and showed the connection of these phenomena with the breakdown of soil aggregates. In 1948-1949 V.A. Frantseson headed an expedition to study the water-physical properties of the soils of the Central Chernozem region for irrigation purposes. The materials obtained were published in the work «Chernozem Soils, Their Genesis and Properties». The most important scientific and practical conclusions arising from the results of V.A. Frantseson's research are: 1. He regarded the questions of the degree of cultivation and the cultivation of soils as a new stage in the development of agronomic soil science, which should study not only soil types as natural bodies but also soil variants created by man, i.e. it should study the genesis of various cultivated soils and their agronomic characteristics. V.A. Frantseson generalized a large body of experimental material from soil-agrochemical surveys in the chernozem zone and established a number of regular patterns regarding the effectiveness of mineral fertilizers depending on soil conditions and the degree of soil cultivation. He noted that cultivated soils require a more in-depth study of fertilizer effectiveness. 2. Studying the water-physical properties of chernozem soils, he emphasized the importance of measures to conserve moisture and overcome drought as the most important prerequisite for obtaining a high yield and for the manifestation of high fertilizer effectiveness in the non-irrigated regions of the chernozem steppes and forest-steppe. He considered the problem of rational, more economical use of moisture in connection with the correct application of fertilizers, since the optimal ratio between nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium is of great importance for the economical expenditure of soil moisture in creating a high yield. V.A. Frantseson considered it important to establish the most effective doses, ratios and application techniques of fertilizers for overcoming soil drought during the growing season of agricultural crops. 3. It was shown that as one moves from ordinary chernozems to thick, leached, podzolized chernozems of the forest-steppe, the capacity of soils to accumulate nitrates decreases. In this direction the action of nitrogen fertilizers applied to all agricultural crops correspondingly increased. 4. V.A. Frantseson established a definite relationship between the effectiveness of phosphorus fertilizers and the dynamics of soil nitrogen content. Even on soils poor in available phosphorus,
the effectiveness of phosphorus fertilizers can decrease sharply with a low supply of available nitrogen in the soil. These scientific propositions remain relevant today. 5. Paying much attention to the effectiveness of phosphate rock meal in relation to soil properties, Vladimir Andreevich noted that the low effectiveness of phosphate rock meal on soils with a high base saturation raises the question of developing special measures to increase the assimilability of the phosphoric acid of the phosphorite under these conditions: applying phosphate rock meal together with physiologically acid fertilizers; composting it with manure; applying phosphate rock meal for crops that possess an increased capacity to assimilate phosphoric acid from it. According to the effectiveness of the action of phosphate rock meal, he distinguished groups of regions within the chernozem zone: 1) regions of continuous or predominant occurrence of soils that ensure the most effective application of fertilizers. These are regions of leached and podzolized chernozems; 2) regions of partial occurrence of soils that ensure the most effective application of phosphate rock meal. These are regions with a predominance of thick and rich chernozems and regions with a predominance of leached and podzolized chernozems with increased base saturation; 3) regions where the application of phosphate rock meal is effective only with the obligatory provision of a nitrogen background (sowing of legume crops, application of mineral nitrogen, etc.); 4) regions requiring special measures to increase the mobility of the P2O5 of phosphate rock meal. These are territories where ordinary chernozems with a very high base saturation (more than 93-95%) occur. The achievements of the development of agrochemical science in the 20th century were largely associated with the introduction of new physical, chemical and physico-chemical methods, as well as with the improvement of the methodology of agrochemical research. Among the scientists who contributed to the development and introduction of new methods in experimental agrochemistry, an honorable place is held by the outstanding scientist Alexander Trofimovich Kirsanov (1880-1941). He was distinguished by his high erudition not only as an agrochemist and soil scientist, but also in the fields of crop science, agriculture, soil and plant chemistry, etc. His scientific and methodological developments and propositions remain of broad practical significance today.
Alexander Trofimovich devoted much attention to the development of a method for determining mobile phosphates in soil as an important element of plant nutrition. This made it possible as early as 1931 to publish the first cartograms of the content of mobile phosphates in various soils. A.T. Kirsanov's method remains to this day one of the main methods for assessing the state of the phosphate regime of sod-podzolic soils, and it is widely used in scientific institutions and in the agrochemical service. He made a significant contribution to the theory and practice of liming acid soils and to the interpretation of the nature of soil acidity, linking methods of regulating soil acidity with yield and with the physical, physico-chemical and biological properties of soil (nitrification, ammonification, biological uptake of nutrients by soil organisms). In the second edition of A.T. Kirsanov's book «Liming as a Factor of Crop Yield» (1930), the experience of soil liming in foreign countries is described in detail, as well as the methodological approaches to determining the need of soils for liming in different countries. He also devoted considerable attention to the problem of the effective use of
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Часть 1 The Role of Scientists from Ukraine, Russia, and Kazakhstan in the Development of Plant Nutrition
Часть 2 - The Role of Scientists from Ukraine, Russia, and Kazakhstan
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