Cereal crop losses already predicted in Poland

for growth. Nitrogen deficiency, already observed in the fall, will be aggravated in this scenario – Polish agronomists note.

The drought will be felt until the beginning of sowing spring cereals. The sowing date back during the calendar winter and in late February or early March was the best choice, because young plants used the moisture reserves after the winter. Although they have tended to be small in recent years, they are nevertheless very important for spring cereals.

Polish farmers are out in the fields, but powerful dust curtains are blowing behind the agro-machines. Theoretically, it would be better to postpone work until better conditions arrive, but in most cases this is not possible. The manure has to be mixed with the soil and the soil has to be prepared for sowing.

In the case of sowing spring spikelets, waiting for rain can also be detrimental, because March, according to forecasters, will be quite dry. And delays in sowing spring crops, as experience shows, usually lead to significant yield losses. Despite the fact that at present conditions are far from ideal or even good, this is perhaps the best time to carry out the work.

Rainfall is in the forecasters’ forecasts, but more often than not it is light. Rain of 5-10 mm will not improve the soil moisture situation.

Once upon a time, one of the main arguments for carrying out herbicide protection of winter cereals in the fall was the problems of entering the field in early spring. This is now obsolete. Almost every year there is little problem getting into most fields in March,” farmers report.

They state that for cereals, an early spring drought can have serious consequences:

• In the event of drought throughout the growing season, yield losses of spring spike crops can exceed 80 percent.
• Lack of moisture in winter wheat from the tube emergence phase to earing can lead to yield reductions of up to 30 percent.
• Triticale grain losses due to low moisture content during the same period can amount to about 15 percent.

Tags: Poland, drought, crop condition