Influence of Biopost and Organo upon Flue-cured Tobacco Grown on Semigley. II. Chemical Composition of Tobacco Leaf and Changes in the Chemical Soil Complex

The paper deals with the results achieved in investigating the effects of biopost and organo, in comparison with stable manure and mineral fertilization as well as one with the other, on the chemical composition of flue-cured tobacco leaf and on the changes in the chemical soil complex. Investigations were carried out on semigley in the central Drava Valley in Northern Croatia. While biopost is an organic fertilizer, organo is defined as an organic-mineral fertilizer since, in addition to an organic component, it also contains a mineral component. Both fertilizers affected the chemical composition of tobacco leaf, though they were applied in relatively small quantities. This was primarily reflected in a reduction of nicotine content and an increase in the content of reducing sugars in comparison with mineral fertilizing, though not always proportional to the rate applied. Here, biopost showed a certain advantage over organo.
The calcium content in tobacco leaf does not indicate any marked influence of the fertilizing treatments tested in the trial. Existence of such a relation seems more likely in the case of magnesium, while in the case of potassium, fertilizing with this bioelement had the crucial role with regard to its content in tobacco leaf.
As regards the changes in the chemical soil complex, the effect of the tested fertilizers, depending on the parameters studied, was either non-existent or very slight.