INFLUENCE OF SOIL TILLAGE AND SEED RATE ON THE PRODUCTIVITY OF COMMON WHEAT (TRITICUM AESTIVUM L.)

Abstract

For spring wheat, proper preparation of the soil and seed rate plays a very important role. The field experiment was carried out in 2023 on the farm of farmer Stanislaus Šinkūnas, Anykščiai district, Kavarskas ward, Janušava village. The soil is a carbonate shallow loamy Luvisol. The arable soil layer before the installation of the experiment in 2022 was a low acid pH_KCl - 6.1, a low humus content (about 2.1%), high phosphorus content (P₂O₅ - 310 mg kg^-1) and medium potassium content (K₂O - 257 mg kg^-1 ). The experiment investigated the influence of tillage and seed rate on the yield and quality of spring wheat. After conducting a field experiment, it was found that different tillage methods and seed rate had a significant impact on spring wheat yield and grain quality. When spring wheat was grown using conventional tillage method and 5 million ha^-1 seed rate, the highest yield was obtained, which reached 4.02 t ha^-1. The significantly lowest average grain yield was obtained in the crop grown in plot with used direct sowing – zero-tillage and 4 million seed rate per ha^-1  yield was only 1.12 t ha^-1. When using direct seeding, due to the low amount of precipitation before sowing, the soil was extremely hard and dry, which was not suitable for inserting spring wheat seeds at a high quality and at the same depth with the direct seeding seeder. Tillage had a significant effect on the protein content of spring wheat grains. Seed rate had no significant effect.

The yield and quality of spring wheat grains were significantly influenced by both tillage and seed rate. in 2023 in the conducted field experiment, the highest seed yield was obtained by applying conventional and reduced tillage in combination with a higher seed rate, and when applying a lower seed rate, the highest yield was obtained in reduced tillage.