László Radócz

As a result of global warming related to the development of industry and agriculture, the proportion of atmospheric carbon dioxide has increased, and temperatures have risen to unprecedented levels. As a result, heat stress, aridity, and salinity in soil has increased, leading to significant research focused on soil deterioration and reduced agricultural productivity. Therefore, it is necessary to provide the means to maintain crop productivity. Agricultural research is seeking novel solutions that guarantee stability and increase the production and quality of crops, including innovative models for feeding crops using non-traditional methods, the most important of which is nourishing plants via their leaves to ensure the cessation of their soil consumption. It is considered an integrated pest-control method, and the technique could be included in plant nutrition. Foliar nutrition has been shown to be a perfect substitute for providing secondary nutrients and micronutrients to plants; however, it cannot be substituted for the fertigation or the fertilization of maintain the soil’s macronutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium). This study shed light on the most important research, conclusions, and generalizations on the technique of foliar feeding using organic acids and biological treatments, especially for tomato and pepper plants.

Remote sensing is an efficient tool to detect vegetation heterogeneity and dynamics of crop development in real-time. In this study, the performance of three maize hybrids (Fornad FAO-420, Merida FAO-380, and Corasano FAO-490-510) was monitored as a function of nitrogen dose (0, 80 and 160 kg N ha−1), soil tillage technologies (winter ploughing, strip-tillage, and ripping), and irrigation (rainfed and 3 × 25 mm) in a warm temperature dry region of East-Central Europe. Dynamics of the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) were followed in the vegetation period of 2021, a year of drought, by using sensors mounted on an unmanned aerial vehicle. N-fertilization resulted in significantly higher NDVI throughout the entire vegetation period (p < 0.001) in each experimental combination. A significant positive effect of irrigation was observed on the NDVI during the drought period (77–141 days after sowing). For both the tillage technologies and hybrids, NDVI was found to be significantly different between treatments, but showing different dynamics. Grain yield was in strong positive correlation with the NDVI between the late vegetative and the early generative stages (r = 0.80–0.84). The findings suggest that the NDVI dynamics is an adequate indicator for evaluating the impact of different treatments on plant development and yield prediction.