How does winter wheat differ from spring and how to grow it?

Winter wheat - the main wealth of the country with a developed agriculture.This is one of the most popular and common cereal crops. Grain value is a high content in grains - proteins, fats and carbohydrates. There is more protein in such wheat than in any other cereal. Flour from this variety of cereals - the highest grade.

It is widely used in breadmaking, in the manufacture of confectionery and pasta, for the production of semolina. Even winter waste is a valuable nutritional product, for example, for the production of animal feed.

The widespread distribution of winter wheat is associated with the history of its origin and cultivation. This is one of the oldest cereal crops, its remains were found during excavations of ancient graves and dwellings. By historical standards, wheat ears are known to humanity at least III — IV millennium BC. Almost all nations were engaged in the cultivation of culture. Wheat was used both for personal needs and for exchange or trade.

Today, winter wheat has over 250 varieties, thousands of varieties. Under winter allocate the most extensive areas of fertile land on the planet. Wheat is grown wherever possible, in almost every country. For Russian latitudes this grass became the most demanded grain crop.

Winter wheat is valued for its nutritional qualities. The composition of the grain meets all the necessary requirements to meet the needs of modern man in the diet. Highly appreciated bread from wheat flour, which has an incredible taste. Grain calorie compared with the calorie content of meat on the composition of nutrients.

Winter varieties are classified as soft cereals. The main volume of bakery products of the highest quality is made from “soft” flour. Raw materials contain at least 28% fiber, which is good for health. "Solid" - goes to secondary production.

It is worth considering that wheat differs in flour strength:

• strong
• average;
• weak;
• valuable.

In this case, strong wheat is often used to enhance the qualities of the weak.

The precursors of winter wheat are less resistant varieties of grain. Varieties of winter wheat are more capricious in relation to their predecessors. Therefore, special attention is paid to this crop, for example, if winter is grown on land that was intended for other varieties. The latter can significantly deplete the soil and leave behind weedy fields.

The biological characteristics of cereals are associated with sunlight, heat - the conditions necessary for normal photosynthesis. The formation of starch and glucose, which are necessary for the normal growth of a grain crop, depends on the length of the day. Due to insufficient lighting, tillering of the leaf may occur near the surface of the soil - this reduces the winter-hardy qualities of the cereals.

The seed germination rate is influenced by the temperature background of the surrounding nature, humidity, which is in the soil and in the air.

Unlike spring, winter wheat varieties require more moisture and fertilizer. These factors directly affect the quality of the grains.

Characteristics of winter wheat varieties are reduced to its taste in the finished product. The quality of the product is affected by the phases of development and growth of the grain crop (depending on the agro-climatic zone, the boundaries between these phases may be blurred).

The difference between the two varieties of grain crops is palpable in the process of growing. Winter wheat is significantly different from the spring in all phases of development. In this regard, there are three main factors affecting the differences.

1. Differences in the growing season. On average, it takes 280 days to ripen spring wheat, 100 days are enough for winter.
2. The differences in the fertility of the layer. Soil fertility is necessary for the winter crop, it draws from it the main forces for germination and tillering. On depleted soil, with a minimum set of nutrients, winter wheat does not give the desired yield (seeds do not get enough phosphorus, nitrogen, potassium).
3. There is such a definition of soil, as its ph coefficient. This refers to a high level of yield (from 6.0 to 7.0) on black soil and dark soils.

Unlike spring wheat, winter wheat has a more sensitive root system, especially at the beginning of growth. Therefore, it is important to provide plants with micronutrients in time for rooting, compacting and strengthening the root system of cereals. Spring wheat is more sensitive to temperature extremes, to changeable weather conditions.

One of the key indicators of a quality product is grain yield. Since winter varieties are highly demanding of moisture, more water is needed for topsoil to ensure high crop yields. In this case, the same value has sunlight. The more serene days in the life of a grain crop, the higher the immunity of winter varieties.

Another condition for increasing yields is mineral fertilizers. For example, from 1 ha to 39 centners of grain of winter varieties, while spring wheat does not exceed 16 centners from 1 hectare. The intensive development of agriculture in the region contributes to an increase in wheat yield.

The increase in yield is affected by the time of harvesting grain, the methods of harvesting. Thus, harvesting can take place in one phase, when the grains from the spikelets are harvested in one cycle of work. Two-phase harvesting of cereals involves first cutting plants, then threshing. This is a more labor-intensive method of harvesting, but it significantly reduces the loss of grain.

There are factors that affect the decline in yield of winter wheat. For example, when planting seeds in a soil with weeds, in a frozen soil. The yield is reduced due to the technology of tillage at the time or after sowing. Fertilizers have no less impact on the quality of seedlings. Diseases - one of the main causes of crop failures in some climatic zones. Sowing infected seeds reduces the yield of winter crops by half.

Winter wheat is different from the spring planting dates and the growth of cereals. The preparation and processing of the soil greatly affect the condition of the seeds. Summer varieties are sown in spring, while winter crops are from late summer and autumn until December (hence the name). Thus, the grain has the ability to germinate and take root well in the ground, before the cold has come. There are differences between spring and winter wheat and the number of crops. The first collection is always lower than that of winter.

The quality of grain yield of winter varieties is influenced by the timing of sowing seeds. Much depends on the rules of agrotechnical processing of cereals, on the quality and characteristics of the soil, on the climatic zone.

The complex of conditions on which the condition of winter depends:

• In the northern regions, seeds of winter wheat varieties have been sown since the first half of August.
• For the central regions (not the Chernozem region), the time from the second decade of August is suitable for sowing.
• Southern region and Chernozem region - in early September.
• In the steppe areas, winter wheat varieties are planted in mid-September.
• In the North Caucasus, for grain crops, it is time until mid-October.

There are rules for sowing winter crops. For 1 ha, the norm ranges from 2.7 to 5.7 million seeds. At the same time, the harvest rate for winter crops from 1 ha is about 300 kg. But there are other equal growing conditions.

Yield is affected by the sowing method along with tillage. The method of sowing seeds is influenced by the following complex of factors:

• soil features, its chemical composition;
• soil contamination (weeds, etc.);
• crop rotation;
• humidity (soil and air);
• predecessors.

Winter crops are sown with the ordinary method (in a row). Usually for sowing using the strongest, largest, resistant and high-quality seeds. They manage to create a strong root system during the growing season.

The technology of cultivation of winter wheat is identical to other variants of sowing grain. In general, the sowing of winter wheat varieties is carried out in two main ways:

• continuous ordinary way (the distance between the rows - 15 cm);
• in a narrow-row way (the distance between the rows is 7-8 cm).

Seeding depth for seeds depends on soil quality and climatic conditions. Typically, the seeds are buried at a distance of 3 to 8 cm. The heavier the soil — loamy or clayey soil — the smaller the embedment depth of the seeds (about 3-4 cm). In very dry soils, the seeds should lie down to a depth of 7-8 cm. The direction of the rows when sowing is affected by the configuration of the site. Sowing is usually done in rows from north to south, and the speed of seedlings is affected by agricultural technology.

Winter wheat is different from the spring phases of growth and development. Grow culture in several stages.

The following phases of development and growth affect the quality of culture:

• emergence of seedlings (weeds are minimal or absent);
• tillering;
• shooting;
• earing;
• period of color formation;
• the period of ripening and ripening (three levels of ripeness: milkweed, wax, full).

In order for a grain crop to thicken well, it is necessary that this phase of development should fall just in spring or autumn (the autumn season is suitable for winter varieties). At the same time, there should be an optimum humidity (at increased, the developmental stage is delayed). The overall development of a grain crop is influenced by the amount of nitrogen fertilizers (when sown). Podkorki love warmly. Top dressing with mineral fertilizers is brought under roots. The foliar top dressing with urea is made on the top layer of soil. The rate of top dressing with carbamide per sheet is 30-40 kg of solution per 1 ha of land.

The shortage and loss of yield of winter wheat is largely associated with diseases and pests of plants. Parasitic diseases can destroy up to 50% of the crop. To date, over 200 types of wheat diseases have been recorded in the world. The quality of cereals is affected by:

• The development of Fusarium spike of wheat (this is when the cereals are affected).
• Fungal diseases (affect roots, stems, leaves, ears of corn, grains).
• Smut diseases (special dust and microbes) “rust” of the ears and its varieties (the ear is covered with yellow, gray, brown, brown mucus).
• Wheat pyrenophorosis is a special type of fungal disease. The plant is completely infected with fungus, externally on the stems, leaves, ears of the plant appear yellow spot.

Bread beetles, a hessian fly, the larvae of these insects, and aphids are among the pests that do not allow them to harvest a full crop of cereals. To combat the scourge, special formulations are used, large-scale measures are being taken to treat winter pests even at the sowing stage.

At the final stage of growing winter wheat, large-scale harvesting is carried out. It is carried out in the designated time frame, which depends on the climatic zone of harvesting. In the process of harvesting maintained grain conservation mode. When violations of the assembly technology - the quality of the grain is reduced. It is better to clean the winter in the period of full ripeness of the crop (at the same time, the grain moisture decreases by 20%).

The worse the conditions of harvesting, the greater the percentage of grain loss. Combining when harvesting winter is usually carried out during the week when the moisture content of the grain is 14-17%.Before mowing is carried out - takes into account the moisture content of the grain to 36-40%.

For the storage of wheat is carried out a range of activities. Due to the proper organization of storage of winter wheat, almost the entire crop can be saved without reducing the quality of the grain.

In order to minimize the loss of grain mass during storage, you should follow several rules.

1. It is important to achieve optimum temperature and humidity of the grain (not more than 12%).
2. It is necessary to monitor the intensity of biochemical processes.
3. It is necessary to control the development of microorganisms and various pests of grain.
4. The optimum temperature for winter storage is no more than 12 degrees Celsius.

Review of wheat varieties, see the following video.