(213c) High Technologies in Agriculture

Plant growth regulators play a large role in the increase of crop efficiency. Plant growth regulators increase a plant's immunity to unfavorable environmental factors ? high and low temperatures, low moisture, pesticides, diseases and pests. The Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry and Oil Chemistry of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine during the last ten years has carried out investigations of plant growth regulators, covering topics from their creation to their applications in agricultural production. The plant growth regulator Ivin (N-oxide 2,6-dimethyl-pyridine) and its analogs are very sensitive to slow mechanical oscillations, changes of magnetic and electrical fields, infra-sound. Some of the investigated compounds have exhibited properties of electron or ionic semiconductivity, which makes them capable of executing the same functions of communication that live organisms use, including the transmission of electrical impulses, magnetic impulses and other signal information. This was convincingly proved with a study of radioactive labeled 14?-Ivin in cells of corn sprouts. During a two hour exposition of corn sprouts in a solution of a labeled preparation, the radioactive label was registered both in the root and in the other parts of the plant, and the level of radioactivity in the plant after 12 hours was about 85% of a total dose. Further study of carrier processes at a membrane level (on preparations of plasmatic membranes which were taken from the root sprouts) has shown that Ivin increases the activity of ?+-??Pase, which adjusts the activity of proton ?+?pomp, which results in the activation of a proton carrier. Ivin also influences the activity of ?+-pomp and amplifies transport processes, accelerates transcription processes, and increases the activity of RNA and protein biomacromolecule synthesis. All of these reactions at a molecular level are the basis of the intensification of growth and cell partition and, as a corollary, the integral growth and development of plants. Along with synthetic preparations, we have created a plant growth regulator of a natural origin, Emistim C, which is produced by cultivation in the artificial nutritious environment of fungi-epiphytes, which were taken from rootlets of medicinal plants. More than 100 synthesized connections on 24 agricultural crops in the laboratory and field experiments allow for the creation of a number of individual preparations on the basis of N-oxides pyridine derivative and their compositions. The process of applying these compounds was established, including the dosage, times and phases of application, for the purpose of plant protection. Therefore, these technologies were integrated as much as possible into existing agricultural production processes. The applications of new plant growth regulators are called one of priority research directions by the Cabinet of the Ministers of Ukraine.