Comparison of Proximal and Remote Sensing for the Diagnosis of Crop Status in Site-Specific Crop Management

The presented paper deals with the issue of selecting a suitable system for monitoring the winter wheat crop in order to determine its condition as a basis for variable applications of nitrogen fertilizers. In a four-year (2017–2020) field experiment, 1400 ha of winter wheat crop were monitored using the ISARIA on-the-go system and remote sensing using Sentinel-2 multispectral satellite images. The results of spectral measurements of ISARIA vegetation indices (IRMI, IBI) were statistically compared with the values of selected vegetation indices obtained from Sentinel-2 (EVI, GNDVI, NDMI, NDRE, NDVI and NRERI) in order to determine potential hips. Positive correlations were found between the vegetation indices determined by the ISARIA system and indices obtained by multispectral images from Sentinel-2 satellites. The correlations were medium to strong (r = 0.51–0.89). Therefore, it can be stated that both technologies were able to capture a similar trend in the development of vegetation. Furthermore, the influence of climatic conditions on the vegetation indices was analyzed in individual years of the experiment. The values of vegetation indices show significant differences between the individual years. The results of vegetation indices obtained by the analysis of spectral images from Sentinel-2 satellites varied the most. The values of winter wheat yield varied between the individual years. Yield was the highest in 2017 (7.83 t/ha), while the lowest was recorded in 2020 (6.96 t/ha). There was no statistically significant difference between 2018 (7.27 t/ha) and 2019 (7.44 t/ha).

Productivity of grain crop rotations in the landscape conditions of the Central Ciscaucasia

Increasing the yield of the most profitable field crops and their placement in crop rotations is an urgent problem of agriculture. The purpose of the studies is to study the productivity of grain crop rotations with various saturation of winter wheat on various power backgrounds and landscape taxons in the zone of unstable moisturizing of the Stavropol Territory. Productivity of grain crop rotations depends on the developing weather conditions, the introduction of mineral fertilizers, saturation of crop rotations with winter wheat and location in the relief. The maximum yield of grain units was observed in crop rotations with winter crops. In crop rotation with a spring barley, they were collected by 3.5–4.2 с less. The use of fertilizers increased the collection of grain units on average by 4.9–6.1 c/ha. On the outskirts of the placard (A1) due to lower soil fertility the minimum collection of grain units was obtained (20.2 с). On average (A2) and lower (A3) slopes their fee increased by 11.7 c, or 57.9%, and by 14.5 c, or 71.8%. In the first crop rotation with 60% saturation of winter wheat the maximum yield of the grain of this culture was obtained. In the second and third crop rotation with 40% grain saturation wasassembled by 6.2–6.3 c less. Putting fertilizers in a dose of N40P40K40 increased the grain collection in the first crop rotation by 4.1, in the second — by 2.2 and in the third — by2.4 c, and according to taxons: on A1 — by1.4,on A2 — by3.6 and onA3 — by 3.8 c. According to the landscape taxons, the release of grain of winter wheat differed at 7.9–10.2 c with the maximum value on the lower slope. Upon the exit of the grain and feed units on all power backgrounds, 1st and 3rd crop turns were leading, and in the exit of the grain of winter wheat — crop rotation with 3 fields of winter wheat.

Productivity of the crop rotation link with lupine with different methods of basic tillage

The current paper has considered the study results of the productivity of the lupine-winter wheat rotation link with different methods of basic tillage. The study was carried out on grey forest soil in the south-west of the Blackearth part of the Bryansk region on the basis of the stationary trial of the All-Russian Research Institute of Lupine in 2015–2018. The purpose of the study was to characterize the productivity of the lupine – winter wheat crop rotation link with differ[1]ent methods of basic tillage. The scheme of the trial included four variants of the main tillage during the cultivation of winter wheat and lupine in a four crop rotation sequences, namely winter wheat – naked oats – winter triticale – lupine. During the period of the study, the highest productivity of the lupine-winter wheat rotation link was identified in the case of moldboard plowing with chisel tillage once every four years for lupine and amounted to 5.2 t/ha of grain units. With this method of tillage, winter wheat and lupine showed high rates of yield and nutritional value. These indicators turned out to be energetically beneficial in terms of energy flow in the agroecosystem. The lowest rates of yield of the link was obtained in the option with subsurface plowing to a depth of 16 cm and amounted to 3.9 t/ha of grain units; the energy cost per ton of grain was 6.7 GJ. With the option with traditional moldboard plowing, the productivity of the crop rotation link was 4.5 t/ha of grain units, and the energy cost was 5.9 GJ per ton of grain. All the presented options of the main tillage in this crop rotation can be used on farms with different levels of economic development and farming culture.

Weed Control and Winter Wheat Crop Yield With the Application of Herbicides, Nitrogen Fertilizers, and Their Mixtures With Humic Growth Regulators

The aim of the present study was to determine the efficacy of the application of mixtures containing various combinations of humic substances, with herbicides and nitrogen fertilizers, in weed control and optimizing the plant nutrition system. We also aimed to evaluate the influence of these substances on winter wheat productivity. Five Ukrainian winter wheat cultivars (‘Kryzhynka,’ ‘Smuhlyanka,’ ‘Slavna,’ ‘Kubus,’ and ‘Mulan’) were sown in a randomized complete block design, with three replications, in the years 2014–2019. The analysis of the effect of the compositions containing herbicides, with various physiologically active substances, in a mixture with humic preparations (Humifield, 4R Foliar concentrate) was performed by counting weeds per square meter in each experimental plot. The best performance in weed control, including perennial species, was obtained from using a mixture of Grodil Maxi herbicide with the humic preparation, Humifield. The crop treatment of this mixture resulted in a 23.6% reduction in weeds, compared to the treatment with the Grodil Maxi herbicide only. At the same time, the complex application of a number of herbicides in a mixture with the humic preparation, 4R Foliar concentrate led to the opposite effect. Various applications of mixtures of humates (4R Foliar concentrate, 5R SoilBoost) with nitrogen fertilizers (ammonium nitrate; carbamide-ammonium mixture) to optimize the winter wheat nutritional system and yield increases have been studied. The highest yield increase of 20%–22% was harvested in the plots treated with 5R SoilBoost and 4R Foliar concentrate plus ammonium nitrate. In addition, the efficacy of wheat crop foliar feeding with mixtures of humates, plus a carbamide-ammonia mixture, in different phases of vegetation has been established. A yield increase of 10.0%–21.4% resulting from the use of such compositions was obtained.

Winter wheat crop water consumption and its effect on yields in southern Romania, in the very dry 2019-2020 agricultural year

Researches on winter wheat in the south part of Romanian Plain during the dry years 2019 and 2020 have been focused on the crop water consumption issue in excessive conditions of air and soil drought. The wheat crop water consumption in the research sites (Calarasi and Teleorman counties), for the entire vegetation period, autumn – spring – summer, is between 1000 and 1050 m3 of water for each ton of wheat produced. Only in the spring-summer period, the wheat extracts a quantity of about 5960 m3 ha-1, i.e. 851 m3 t-1. The useful water reserve is normally located at about 1500 m3/ha-1, at a soil depth of 0-150 cm. In the spring of 2020, it has been below 400 m3 ha-1, so that at the beginning of May the soil moisture had almost reached the wilting coefficient (WC). Wheat plants have been able to survive the thermal and water shock of late spring - early summer, due to enhanced thermal alternation between air and soil. For a period of about 34 days, this alternation brought the plants 1-1.5 mm water, i.e. approximately 442 m3 ha-1, which allowed the prolongation of the plant’s agony until the rains of the second half of May. Yields have been, depending on the variety, between 1500 and 3000 kg ha-1, in average, covering only 60% of the crop costs. Other measures to save water in the soil have also been proposed in the paper.

Economic Loss from Rhizoctonia Bare Patch in Rainfed Winter Wheat and Spring Barley in Oregon

Economic loss from Rhizoctonia bare patch, caused by Rhizoctonia solani AG-8, was estimated in two 50-ha fields on a single farm. A winter wheat crop was managed as a conventionally cultivated 2-year wheat/fallow rotation and a spring barley crop was managed as a no-till annual crop. Aerial photographs revealed that patch-affected area was nearly double in barley (17%) compared to wheat (9%). Yield inside patches was reduced by 73% and 68% for wheat and barley, respectively. Grain produced on each field was reduced more for winter wheat (21.6 mt, valued at US$5,080) than spring barley (16.8 mt, valued at US$2,784). More precise estimates of economic damage and more robust management practices for Rhizoctonia bare patch must be developed.

Аgroclimatic conditions for formation of the winter wheat crop in the territory of the south federal district

An assessment of the dynamics of the average regional yield and the climatic component of winter wheat yields in the territory of the Southern Federal District has been carried out. The dynamics of the duration of dry and dry periods was determined according to the data of the Krasnodar meteorological station.