Growth, yield and composition of four winter cereals. I. Biomass, grain yield and yield formation

Abstract

A field experiment with three cultivars of four winter cereals sown at a seed rate for about 320 plants per m2, was conducted on a fertile clay soil. The nitrogen fertilizer was split-dressed: 120 kg/ha in total for wheat and triticale, and 60 kg/ha for rye and barley. Total above-ground dry matter production was 18 790 kg/ha in wheat Triticum aestivum, 15 230 kg/ha in rye Secale cereale, 18 300 kg/ha in triticale Triticosecale and 12 460 kg/ha in barley Hordeum vulgare. Grain yields (kg/ha) were 8740 (wheat), 6640 (rye), 8200 (triticale) and 6620 (barley). Cultivar differences in grain yield and in yield components were mostly smaller in wheat and rye than in triticale and barley. The harvest index was highest in barley (53.3%) and lowest in rye (43.7%); in some plant species there were marked differences between cultivars, but in others there were not. -from Author