Winter rye yield depending on seeding rates and precursors in the Central Non-Chernozem Region

Abstract

Background. The use of well-designed agrotechnical methods allows you to harvest winter rye, regardless of weather conditions, with minimal resource and labor costs. In addition, the correct choice of precursors and moisture standards on grain crops increases the efficiency of crop development, optimizes the area of nutrition and solar insolation, resistance to pests and diseases. The effectiveness of the choice of technology elements directly depends on the analysis of their application, depending on the requirements of agricultural technology, crop varieties, as well as the level of soil fertility. The issue of increasing the productivity of winter rye in the Central Non-Chernozem region, through the development and improvement of technology elements with subsequent introduction into agricultural production aimed at increasing the production of high-quality grain crops, is undoubtedly an urgent, important and promising area, which determined the implementation of these studies.

The purpose is to determine the efficiency of growing and productivity of winter rye depending on the complex action of precursors and the seeding rate in the Central Non–Chernozem region.

Materials and methods. The research was carried out in the period 2021-2024 in the conditions of the Domodedovo district of the Moscow region. Three variants of the precursor were studied: winter wheat (control), peas for grain, spring rapeseed and five variants of crop seeding rates. The dynamics of the development of winter rye plants against the background of the use of various precursors and seeding rates is determined; the crop structure, yield and quality indicators are determined depending on the factors studied; the economic efficiency of the proposed elements of winter rye cultivation technology is revealed. All the studies were conducted according to generally accepted methods and the methodology of field work as described by B.A. Dospekhov.

Results. The conducted studies have shown high efficiency of placing winter rye crops after leguminous crops, especially peas for grain, as precursors. The optimal seeding rate for winter rye is 3.5–4.0 million seeds per hectare, which ensures consistently high yields. The use of appropriate agrotechnical measures contributes to the achievement of high and reliable grain harvest rates — from 50.1 to 56.5 quintals per hectare, depending on the weather conditions of a particular season. The average yield was 5.29 t/ha with 3.5 million seeds per hectare and 5.35 t/ha with an increase in crop density to 4.0 million seeds per hectare. The results obtained are recommended for practical implementation in order to increase the productivity of winter crops and optimize production costs.