MACRO- AND MICRO ELEMENT LEVELS IN CEREALS GROWN IN LOWER AUSTRIA

In order to study the effects of soil type and site conditions upon essential element levels in cereals, a pilot study of field and pot experiments were carried out on a Dystric cambisol, a Gleyic luvisol, a Calcareous phaeozem, and a Calcareous chernozem in 3 subsequent years. Based on the results of multiemelent analyses, it was evident that P and Zn were found mainly in the grains, and Ca, Fe, and Mn preferably in the straw. Concentrations in the grains were kept rather constant for Fe, Mn, S, and P, whereas the straw acted as a buffer to store excess mobile amounts. Apart from some differences due to cereal species and cultivars, additional supply of nutrient element fertilizer solution and shorter root length led to higher Cu, Fe, Mn, and Zn in cereals grown in pots, and a shift in the grain/straw ratios for Ca. Thus, the results obtained in pot experiments cannot be directly transferred to fi eld conditions. From at least 5 replicates of each setup, on the average, precision of analytical data obtained for whole grain samples was better than for straw samples, and precision obtained in pot experiments was less than those in fi eld experiments. In pot experiments, increase of the number of replicates from 5 to 10 or 20 did not improve analytical precision