Winter wheat productivity and grain quality depending on forecrops and sowing dates using no-till technology in the unstable moisture region of the Stavropol territory

   The current study was conducted with the purpose to establish the possibility and feasibility of winter wheat cultivation in a direct seeding system after sunflower and to determine the optimal time for its sowing after various forecrops in the unstable moisture region of the Stavropol Territory. Field trials were conducted at the North-Caucasus FARC in 2018–2021 in the crop rotation peas – winter wheat – sunflower – winter wheat, in which the soil for all crops was not cultivated for three years before and during the trial. Winter wheat was sown after peas and sunflower from September 15–20 to October 15–20 with an interval of 10 days. There has been found that when sowing on September 15–20, winter wheat plants sown after both forecrops have formed the largest above-ground mass and foliar surface with 2.5–3.2 lateral tillering shoots before wintering. Postponing the sowing date to a later time has led to a reliable decrease in the biometric indicators of plants and a decrease in tillering shoots when sowing on September 25–30 to 2.0–2.3 pcs., on October 5–10 to 1.4–1.5 pcs., and sowing on October 15-20 went into winter with an awl phase or one pair of leaves. But in spring, winter wheat sown in the first ten days of October formed 1.8–2.3 lateral shoots, while the plants sown in September were damaged with spring frosts, which resulted in freezing of the leaves and partial death of the tillering shoots. The largest above-ground mass and assimilation apparatus have been formed by the crops from October 5–10, which ensured obtaining the significantly highest productivity of 4.39 t/ha after peas and 3.31 t/ha after sunflower. Such productivity after sunflower ensured obtaining the profit of 23,871 rubles/ha and 88.5 % of profitability, which was quite good, taking into account significantly higher economic efficiency of the preceding sunflower.

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