Winter cereals harvest 2024: challenges and prospects for farmers

Sowing of winter grain crops in 2024 began on an area of 341.3 thousand hectares. This figure includes: winter wheat - 328.6 thousand hectares, winter rye - 7.4 thousand hectares, triticale - 5.3 thousand hectares, winter barley - 20 hectares.

The winter season brought us some surprises. The amount of precipitation exceeded the usual annual norms. This affected the height of the snow cover, which reached from 50 cm to 1.5 meters. On the one hand, this is favorable, as in spring the moisture reserves will be replenished, which is important for the growth and development of plants, ensuring their nutrition and high yields.

However, the inspection of the winter crops showed that at the node rooting depth of winter wheat, the temperature was close to zero (0, +3 0C). Prolonged exposure of plants to such conditions led to intensive consumption of nutrients in the leaves and nodes of rooting, weakening them. In such a state, winter plants usually get damaged in spring with lower frosts than in autumn and winter.

Therefore, the main measures for caring for winter crops in spring, such as nitrogen fertilization, micronutrients, physiologically active substances, as well as protective treatments - herbicides, fungicides, and insecticides, should be carried out to accelerate plant growth, stimulate regeneration processes, and reduce the negative impact of winter damage.

All these measures need to be implemented to achieve a good harvest.