Efficiency of corn fertilization with ammonium nitrate and multi-component fertilizer Aqualis

From 2022 to 2024, scientific research was conducted at All-Russian Research Institute of Maize. The study aimed to evaluate the efficiency and economic cost-effectiveness of foliar application of Aqualis fertilizer on corn. The experiment included three variants: 1) control without fertilization; 2) 100 kg/ha of ammonium nitrate in physical weight twice at the 6and 8-leaf stages under inter-row cultivation; 3) Aqualis 13-40-13 + ME (3.0 kg/ha) at the 8-leaf stage + Aqualis 6-14-35 + 2 MgO + ME (3.0 kg/ha) at the 14-leaf stage by foliar application. The scientific research was conducted on the mid-maturing corn hybrid Mashuk 390 MV. From 2022 to 2024, the average height of corn plants at the flowering stage increased by 10 cm after double fertilization with ammonium nitrate. Foliar fertilization with Aqualis 13-40-13 + ME and Aqualis 6-14-35 + 2 MgO + ME increased plant height by 8 cm. Corn root fertilization with ammonium nitrate increased corn grain yield by an average of 0.71 t/ha (11.8%) over three years. Applying the foliar fertilizer Aqualis 13-40-13 + ME (3.0 kg/ha) at the 8-leaf stage + Aqualis 6-14-35 + 2 MgO + ME (3.0 kg/ha) at the 14-leaf stage increased corn grain yield by 0.70 t/ha (11.6%). The cost-effectiveness for Aqualis fertilizers was higher than for ammonium nitrate due to their lower cost. Using Aqualis 13-40-13 + ME at the 8leaf stage and Aqualis 6-14-35 + 2 MgO + ME at the 14leaf stage yielded an average income of 3.08 roubles for every rouble spent on fertilizers over three years. However, double application of ammonium nitrate to corn did not pay off in terms of grain yield due to the fertilizer's high cost, yielding only 0.71 roubles for every 1 rouble spent.