The results of studies on influence of basic cultivation of soil following various preceding crops on reserves of productive moisture content and winter wheat yield on the Right Bank Forest-Steppe of Ukraine are given. Ploughing is found to be an effective system of basic soil cultivation for winter wheat following clover. For winter wheat following maize for silo in grain-sugar beet crop rotation nonmoldboard cultivation is recommended

Field experiments with winter wheat cultivar 'Sirvinta 1' and 'Alba' were conducted over 1991-1993 in Luksiai (Lithuania). Winter wheat was treated with ammonium nitrate (0...120kg/haN) in one, two or three dressings in spring at the beginning of the vegetation, at the beginning and the middle of the stem elongation and at the flag leaf stage. Winter wheat 'alba' was more resistant to the diseases investigated than 'Sirvinta 1'. Nitrogen fertilizers increased development of powdery mildew, rust and root rot and has no significant influence on septoria. Yield of winter wheat 'Alba' was higher than yield of 'Sirvinta 1' in plots without fungicides, but on the plots with fungicides yield of both varieties was on the same level.

Winter wheat 'Sirvinta 1' was treated with different nitrogen fertilizer rates at various development stages. Research data showed that most expedient to fertilize winter wheat 'Sirvinta 1' with an optimum nitrogen fertilizer rate of 90-120 kg/ha, while applying the larger rate in 2 times - N60 at the end of tillering and N60 at the stage of the last leave. Nitrogen fertilizers increased the content of protein and gluten in grain flour, improved physical properties of winter wheat dough, but their influence on gluten quality, its hydration, bread output and bread quality indices was weak and irregular.

The results of the survey and the measurements of meteorological factors taken at the Synoptic Station in Zamosc allowed to estimate the influence of the weather conditions on the degree of affecting winter wheat by Cercosporella herpotrichoides. In order to do this regression was analysed and the essnece of independent variables was evaluated. The dependent variable was the degree of affecting winter wheat by Cercosporella herpotrichoides, and the dependent variables were: average decade max. and min. air temperature, the min. ground temperature and the decade sum of rainfall. On the basis of the obtained results it was stated that the decade sums of rainfall had no significant influence on the average affecting of winter wheat by the pathogen Cercosporella herpotrichoides

Producers participating in federal farm and conservation programs must reduce potential erodibility below certain thresholds on lands classified as highly erodible. The Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) will credit producers in Colorado for the quantity of green winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) biomass at the beginning of the winter period towards compliance in reducing erosion. Unfortunately, few data exist on fall winter wheat biomass production, and fall production varies widely based on many site-specific factors at planting and during the fall, and can be expensive to document. To address these problems, a crop simulation model called SHOOTGRO was used to predict the amount of green biomass present. By combining planting dates, sowing rates, and conditions of NO3, NH4, total water in the soil profile, and water in the seedbed layer at planting for three sites in eastern Colorado a total of 216 scenarios were simulated, both to assist NRCS in determining compliance and to better understand the dynamics of early winter wheat biomass production.

International audience

Two species of cereal leaf beetles Oulema melanopus and O. gallaeciana are harmful agents in wheat in the Czech Republic. The species O. duftschmidi was not found to be present in winter wheat. The abundance of O. melanopus was higher in all years of observation than the occurrence of O. gallaeciana. The ratio of O. melanopus incidence in the population was 69-94.5%. The sex ratio was mostly in favour of the males in the years of observation (1:1.1-1.9). Oogenesis was evaluated by the rate of ovum differentiation in the ovarioles. Maximum of mature eggs in the female ovarioles preceded by 2-4 days the peak of oviposition on plants. Temperature and rainfalls before flights and after them regulated the period of mature egg in the female ovarioles.

Wheat was assessed for sharp eyespot in three field trials using factorial designs which investigated preceding crops and soil tillage effects (inversion vs non-inversion), soil structure (compacted vs non-compacted) and wheat management techniques (sowing date and density, nitrogen fertiliser rate and form, removal or burial of cereal straw). A previous host vs non-host crop increased sharp eyespot. The effect of soil tillage depended on crop succession: if the previous crop was a host, soil inversion vs non-inversion decreased disease by burying infectious host crop residues; if the previous crop was a non-host itself preceded by a host, soil inversion vs non-inversion increased disease by carrying infectious material back to the soil surface. Uncompacted vs compacted soil increased sharp eyespot, hut only at early stages. Early sowing always increased disease. High plant density (giving rise to low tillering) increased early and decreased late disease levels. A high vs low nitrogen rate and a low vs high ammonium content of the fertiliser slightly increased sharp eyespot. Removal or burial of straw did not affect disease. A hierarchy of the factors was established: crop succession and soil tillage were dominant factors; among the wheat management practices, only sowing date and plant density had important effects.