In a long-term field experiment winter wheat was grown in crop rotations with 40, 60 and 80% proportion of cereals. Two levels of fertilization were used: H1 - mineral fertilization N, P, K + organic fertilization Veget®; H2 - only mineral fertilization N, P, K. Winter what was grown after two preceding crops: pea and winter barley. In 2010-2012 the grain yield of winter wheat after pea was statistically higher at fertilization with mineral fertilizers N, P, K and organic manure Veget® (7.15 t/ha) in comparison with mineral fertilizers only (6.65 t/ha). In crop rotation with 80% of cereals the grain yield of winter wheat after pea as a preceding crop was statistically higher (6.81 t/ha) than after winter barley (5.59 t/ha). The rising of grain yield at 1.9 t/ha was achieved by suitable preceding crop (pea) and by combined fertilization (mineral fertilizers N, P, K + organic manure Veget®). The grain yield of winter wheat 5.24 t was obtained by mineral fertilization N, P, K only and after winter barley. By mineral fertilization N, P, K + organic manure Veget®) and after pea as a preceding crop the grain yield of winter wheat 7.14 t/ha was reached.

Quantification of crop residue biomass on cultivated lands is essential for studies of carbon cycling of agroecosystems, soil-atmospheric carbon exchange and Earth systems modeling. Previous studies focus on estimating crop residue cover (CRC) while limited research exists on quantifying crop residue biomass. This study takes advantage of the high temporal resolution of the China Environmental Satellite (HJ-1) data and utilizes the band configuration features of HJ-1B data to establish spectral angle indices to estimate crop residue biomass. Angles formed at the NIRIRS vertex by the three vertices at R, NIRIRS, and SWIR (ANIRIRS) of HJ-1B can effectively indicate winter wheat residue biomass. A coefficient of determination (R²) of 0.811 was obtained between measured winter wheat residue biomass and ANIRIRS derived from simulated HJ-1B reflectance data. The ability of ANIRIRS for quantifying winter wheat residue biomass using HJ-1B satellite data was also validated and evaluated. Results indicate that ANIRIRS performed well in estimating winter wheat residue biomass with different residue treatments; the root mean square error (RMSE) between measured and estimated residue biomass was 0.038kg/m². ANIRIRS is a potential method for quantifying winter wheat residue biomass at a large scale due to wide swath width (350km) and four-day revisit rate of the HJ-1 satellite. While ANIRIRS can adequately estimate winter wheat residue biomass at different residue moisture conditions, the feasibility of ANIRIRS for winter wheat residue biomass estimation at different fractional coverage of green vegetation and different environmental conditions (soil type, soil moisture content, and crop residue type) needs to be further explored.

Possibilities have been investigated for employing the express method to evaluate the viability of overwintered wheat plants and the aspects of a differentiated approach for using biologically active substances of glycosidic nature to increase wheat yields under unfavorable winter conditions. A stimulating effect of foliar treatment with glycoside solutions on the enhancement of the production levels by 15 to 17% and winter wheat yield by 19 to 28% has been demonstrated. The factual material obtained in laboratory and field experiments has allowed us to recommend utilization of plant glycosides as an agro-technical practice in cultivation technologies in order to improve viability under unfavorable winter conditions, to increase the number of productive stalks and the total winter wheat yield.

The article highlights the research results of stability and plasticity of soft winter wheat varieties under the conditions of Forest Steppe of Ukraine. The article determines action of abiotic and biotic factors of a certain environment on genotype and bases the degree of their influence on the growth, development, yield and quality of soft winter wheat. The obtained result allows recommending varieties of soft winter wheat: Lira odeska, Tonatsiya, Arktis, Etela, for producers as the most suitable varieties for intensive cultivation technologies in Forest Steppe zone of Ukraine.

Weed management imposes the largest constraint on field crop production under organic management systems. Research was conducted to identify winter wheat genotypes with good yield potential that are competitive with weeds for use in organic systems. Thirty winter wheat genotypes were evaluated over two years for ability to compete against weeds and for grain yield production in southeastern South Dakota. Genotypes evaluated showed significant differences in suppression of weed production and in grain yield performance; however, genotype-by-season interaction was significant suggesting that different environmental conditions between the two seasons influenced genotype rankings. Weed biomass showed a negative relationship with crop shoot biomass. Certain released cultivars (Jerry and Scout66 winter wheat) and advanced breeding lines (NE03490 winter wheat, and NE42G2T and NT01451 winter triticale) showed promising results in terms of weed suppression and acceptable grain yield.

Winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) production in the North China Plain (NCP) is threatened by insufficient water supply. Interest in microirrigation is increasing in the NCP, while data and guidance for microirrigation scheduling are lacking. An accurate estimation of actual crop evapotranspiration (ETa) is critical for appropriate water management. In this study, therefore, the SIMDualKc model was calibrated with the data from a three-season experiment, and ETa of winter wheat with subsurface drip irrigation (SDI) was estimated with the dual crop coefficient approach and stress adjustments described in the FAO-56 using the data of the other two treatments. The mean value of basal crop coefficient (Kcb) for the winter wheat at the initial-, mid-, and late-season growth stages over the three seasons was 0.25, 1.06, and 0.34, respectively. Over the three growing seasons, the ETa for subsurface drip-irrigated wheat with three irrigation treatments ranged from 393 to 449mm. The Kc-local (ETa/ETo) values for the winter wheat with SDI were 0.34–0.80, 0.91–1.11, and 0.41–0.98, respectively, at the initial-, mid-, and late-season growth stages. Results indicated that the procedure of the dual Kc approach and stress adjustments simulated ETa of the winter wheat reasonably well, with the average absolute error (AAE) of 0.36mmd−1, the root mean square error (RMSE) of 0.43mmd−1,the index of agreement (d) of 0.98, the Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE) of 0.91, and the RMSE-observations standard deviation ratio (RSR) of 0.31. Discrepancy between the simulated and measured data was mainly attributed to the assumption of a uniform distribution of soil water around an emitter. Irrigation rates have significant effects on ETa, grain yield and WUE. Based on effects of irrigation rates on grain yield and WUE, irrigation schedule for optimum yield and WUE was developed for winter wheat. It was estimated that grain yield and WUE of winter wheat with the optimum irrigation schedule was 7780kgha−1 and 1.83kgm−3, respectively. The simulated results can be used as a reference for irrigation schedule and water management for winter wheat in the NCP.

Planting date is an important management tool that influences winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) performance in the Northern Great Plains. A study was conducted to: (i) evaluate the effect of planting date on grain yield and agronomic traits of eight winter wheat cultivars varying in season length and winter hardiness; and (ii) determine if any interaction between cultivar and planting date exists. The study was located near Wall (43.99° N, 102.24° W) in western South Dakota from 2005 through 2007. Winter wheat cultivars were planted at five planting dates ranging from mid-September to early December. The response of winter wheat grain yield to planting date was quadratic, with the optimum planting date for maximum yield varying among winter wheat cultivars. Optimum planting dates for early and medium maturing cultivars ranged from 7 September to 19 October. For the late maturing cultivar, optimum planting dates ranged from 5 to 20 October, narrower than the current recommendations. The grain yields for early, medium, and late maturing cultivars were similar at early and intermediate planting dates, suggesting that in early planting situations, the season length of the winter wheat cultivar is not an important determinant of yield. The late maturing cultivar yielded lower than early or medium maturing cultivars when planting was delayed to dates later than mid-October in all 3 yr. Yield reduction with delayed planting was mostly due to a reduction in head density. Kernels per head increased with delayed planting but the increase was not enough to compensate for low tiller production in late-planted wheat.

Acyrthosiphon pisum Harris (Aphididae: Hemiptera), the pea aphid, is an important pest in organic farming systems. In this work, the objective was to gather empirical field data on the associational resistance of durum wheat–winter pea intercrops towards the pea aphid, compared with pure stands of winter pea. Our results showed that intercropping winter pea with durum wheat significantly decreased A. pisum abundance in all the situations. Moreover, it was systematically observed that pea grew bigger in pure than in intercropped stands but after considering pea dry mass as a covariate, it appeared that the durum wheat–winter pea intercrop was still significantly less attacked by pea aphids than the sole crop. Intercrop sowing designs had an incidence on infestation levels: substitutive diversification systems of different types are more effective in decreasing the level of aphid infestation than does the additive system. In addition, substitutive row intercrop is significantly less infested than substitutive mixture. These results suggest that a mechanism related to the resource concentration hypothesis may explain the associational resistance of the IC of durum wheat–winter pea towards A. pisum.