The author has analyzed visual-figurative and verbal-logical representation of a control object in the sciences related to agriculture (agricultural chemistry, soil science, biology, ecology, agrocenology, etc.). Conclusion has been made that visual-figurative description of the control object in agroecosystems is not sufficient enough while verbal-logical representation is quite sufficient. As a result, the significant amount of information can be inaccessible for general public and, to some extent, “entailed” for focused experts. One of the most important consequences of the socio-economic system management is that the use of mineral and energy resources in Russia is incorrectly prioritized in the production and consumption system at the macro level, while the balance of biophilic elements in agriculture stays negative. For improving the visual-figurative representation of the knowledge amount contained by the above noted sciences, it is proposed to formalize and graphically display the biogenic cycle of nutrients in agriculture (biological cycle in agroecosystems) in the form of a “soil microorganisms - plants - animals system”, i.e. as the metabolizing system of three groups of organisms. The author has drawn a conclusion that the “soil microorganisms - plants - animals system” system management corresponds to the goals of such concepts as “rational use of natural resources and land use”, “sustainable development”, and “circular economy”. A proposal has been put forward to consider the “coefficient of biological cycle completeness” as an integral index that means the effectiveness of government administration of sustainable development policy in relation to environmental economics and, as a consequence, soil fertility. The author believes that unlike “the balance of biophile elements”, this index is sensitive to the source of raw materials and reflects the dynamic properties of the system.

Using the method of biotests, the authors have studied the influence of seed exudates of medicinal plants Matricaria chamomilla L., Artemisia absinthium L., Ricinus communis L., Tanacetum vulgare L. on germination energy and morpho-physiological parameters of weed seeds under joint upswelling and germination. Inhibiting the germination energy of weed seeds by metabolites of medicinal species seeds depended on the following factors: species of both weeds and medicinal plants, structure and chemical composition of medicinal plant seeds, susceptibility of weed seeds to the exudates from medicinal plant seeds, original correlation of medicinal plant seeds and weeds during their upswelling and subsequent germination. New data have been obtained showing that aqueous solutions of root secretions of cultivated plants Lupinus albus L., Helianthus annuus L. and Secale cereal L. have inhibiting allelopathic effects on the growth of seedlings of both cultivated plants (Cucumis sativus L.) and weeds (Thlaspi arvense L., Amaranthus retroflexus L.). The effectiveness of inhibiting the growth processes was determined by a complex of internal and external factors, such as the genotype and age of donor plants, environmental conditions, the duration of their exposure to the components of root exudates and the concentration of active substances. It is concluded that the ability of cultivated and medicinal plants to suppress or stimulate the growth of weed species can be used in the fight against weed infestation.

The article presents the results of research on the effects of light spectral composition on the morphophysiological parameters of microclones of raspberries (variety Orange miracle) and blackberries (variety Black satin), cultivated in vitro. The high efficiency of using narrow-band and wide-band light-emitting diodes (LEDs) for these purposes is shown. It was found that optical radiation in the studied spectral ranges provided various effects on the growth of plant microshoots, as well as the reproduction coefficient. In a comparative study of the effects of different light sources, the most intense growth of raspberry and blackberry microshoots and an increase in the multiplication coefficient were observed when using LEDs of the blue spectrum and white LEDs with color temperature 2500 K. Quasimonochromatic green light was favorable for raspberry plants, but not for blackberries. In plant responses to light spectral modes, species and varietal differences appear, which must be taken into account when developing technologies for their light culture in vitro.

Livestock breeding is one of the fastest growing branches of agriculture worldwide. The living conditions of industrially grown animals are one of the most pressing ethical issues of our time. Farm animals with complex systems of sensations and emotions are very susceptible to disturbances in technological processes. Ensuring the survival and reproduction of animals on farms, people, unfortunately, can cause them great suffering because they do not satisfy many of the physical, emotional and social needs inherited from wild ancestors. Owing to many years of breeding, modern dairy cattle have a great genetic potential, which often cannot be fully achieved due to unbalanced feeding, unfavorable housing conditions and poor animal health. Feeding, maintenance and health of livestock are both basic zootechnical indicators and principles of animal welfare. Since it is the welfare of animals that is directly related to the quality and quantity of the products obtained, in the field of agriculture, methods should be applied that objectively and reliably assess the situation in the workplace. One of the recognized methods is Welfare Quality®, developed at Wageningen University and Research Center (Wageningen Universiteit en Researchcentrum) in the Netherlands. It implies the point-based evaluation of the principles of animal welfare, each of which, in turn, includes several criteria. The results obtained using the Welfare Quality® methodology allowed the authors to identify vulnerabilities in the feeding and keeping of dairy cattle under production conditions that negatively affected the health and behavior of animals and, as a result, the standard of animal welfare.

The authors have studied the influence of biofertilizers in the form of a humic-fulvate complex, humic acid and algae-based biofertilizers made of the Laminaria, Sargassum, Ascophyllum nodosum algae on the growth, development of the Iranian basil (Ocimum basilic content), as well as the content of essential oil and malondialdehyde. The experiment was conducted on in 2017-2018 in the laboratory of the Agriculture Faculty of Tehran University. Non-root treatments based on a working solution of 300 l/ha included control (water), humic-fulvate complex 900 g/ha, humic acid 300 g/ha, and algae-based biofertilizers 20 g/ha. It has been shown that, as compared with the control variant, the use of preparations based on the humic-fulvate complex, humic acid, and algae-based bio-fertilizers has a positive effect on the growth and development of basil, an increase in the biomass output by 12-17% and the yield of essential oil from 1 ha to 5-7 kg. The most effective biological products in terms of their effect on morphometric parameters and the content of essential oil in basil leaves are, first, a humic-fulvate complex, then humic acid, and to a lesser extent, an algae-based biological fertilizer. The authors have determined the content of malondialdehyde in the aboveground biomass of basil, which is a criterion for assessing the effectiveness of biological products by their response to oxidative stress and / or the degree of resistance to this effect. It is noted that the concentration of malondialdehyde during treatment with the humic-fulvate complex and humic acid decreases in 1.5-2 times as compared to the control variant, which indicates a lower degree of destruction of the lipid complex and higher strength of cell membranes.

The pericarp of a sugar beet seed performs the main function of protecting the seed itself from mechanical damage. The pericarp thickness, as well as the seed size and weight depend mainly on the growing conditions of seed plants. Modern technologies for the pre-sowing treatment of sugar beet seeds without fail include the method of removing the external loose parenchyma of the pericarp - defuzzing. This technique is used to obtain greater uniformity of the size and mass characteristics of seeds, to give them a more rounded shape before further pelleting. In addition, previous studies have also established an improvement in sowing qualities (germination energy and laboratory germination) in debuzzed seeds due to the partial removal of germination inhibitors contained in the pericarp, which is biologically peculiar of beetroot seeds. The studies conducted to state the effect of the pericarp removal degree of sugar beet seeds on their fractional composition and sowing qualities made it possible to specify the available data. So, in particular, the optimal seed debuzzing modes have been determined (ensuring removal of up to 30% of the pericarp), which increase the initial energy of seed germination by an average of 10%, and also provide the least possible damage to seeds, expressed mainly in the opening of pericarp caps. In this case, the highest yield of commercial fractions of seeds suitable for subsequent pelleting was obtained.