Oats are used for both food and feed purposes. Oat grains are used in the manufacture of cereals, rolled oats, oatmeal, coffee substitute. These products play a huge role in diet and baby food.
The protein in oatmeal contains many useful amino acids for the human body. Culture grains are saturated with vitamin B, calcium, iron and phosphorus compounds.
Oats are very important when feeding young horses and other animals. Oats are present in compound feeds. Straw of oats is much more valuable in terms of feed indicators than straw of other cereals.
- Biological features of oats
- Crop yield
- Preparation of soil for growing crops
- Requirements for soils that must be met in the cultivation of oats
- Fertilizers that must be applied to obtain high yields of oats
- Features worth paying attention to before sowing culture
- Dates of sowing oats
- Harvesting Culture
Biological features of oats
Among cereals, oats are more cold-resistant grains. Already at the temperature of 1-2 degrees, oat seeds begin to germinate.Oats can easily tolerate frosts from -3 to -9 degrees. If the temperature drops below ten degrees, the tillering nodes do not wither, and as soon as it starts to warm up, the culture restores the vegetation.
The normal temperature of water for plant growth is 20–22 degrees. Higher temperatures of 38-40 degrees oats very poorly tolerate, much worse than wheat and barley.
This culture is very needs water. During seed germination, a very large amount of water is absorbed. Oats have the highest transpiration coefficient from 450 to 500. The most water oats ask for during booting is the period when booting is made bobbing and fourteen days before they are formed, when the generative organs are formed.
If during this period the weather is dry, the yield may drop significantly. But the rains at this time can also have a bad effect on the development of culture: a large vegetative mass begins to grow, a lot of adjustments appear, the vegetation period is delayed.
To the soil on which you decide to grow a crop, oats are not very demanding. Oats can be grown on sands, loams, and clay sod-podzolic soils.This can be explained by the fact that the culture has a well-developed root system, which grows to a depth of 1.2 meters. Oats are well adapted to the increased acidity of the soil (pH5-6), which is why it is sown on mastered swampy and peaty soils.
Unfavorable soils for oats are saline. When forming 100 kilograms of grain, it takes 3 kilograms of nitrogen from the soil, 1 kilogram of phosphorus and 5 kilograms of potassium.
Culture is self-pollinated. Pollination is also cross at high temperatures. Tillering does not occur as in spring and winter barley. Average bushiness 3-4 shoots, productivity 1.5-2. The oat root system is such that it is able to pull the most insoluble nutrients from the soil, especially phosphoric acid from phosphates.
The average growing season is about 100-120 days, these figures depend on the zone in which the crop is grown and on the variety of oats. The disadvantage of culture is that in the absence of moisture for more than 10-15 days, the yield begins to decline.
Crop yield
In 2014 - 2015, Ukraine plans to expand the acreage under oats.
About 275 thousand hectares of land are planned to be allotted to the described culture, which is 23 thousand hectares more compared with the past year.
Analysts express their opinion that oats are one of several crops in which we can expect higher yields.
For the coming season, the expected average yield of oats is about 19.8 c / ha, which is 0.4 c / ha more than in 2013.
But weather conditions can affect these numbers, and yields can be changed. In 2014, the gross harvest of culture is expected to be around 522 thousand tons, which is 12% more than last year.
Preparation of soil for growing crops
The main secret in achieving a good and stable harvest of oats is the quality and at the time made processing of the soil. The implementation of all necessary measures leads to an increase in crop yields, increased soil fertility, and normalization of the water, air, and food regime of the land, which affects the favorable development of the root system of culture.
But all the necessary measures depend on the type of soil, weather conditions in the growing area, on its predecessor, biological characteristics of the crop and other conditions.The basis in the processing of land for oats is the stubbing of the stubble of the previous crop. This affects the reduction of weeds, the increase in moisture in the soil, it becomes possible to conduct autumn plowing in a later period, without reducing its effectiveness.
The best time for plowing plowing without preliminary peeling is in the third decade of August or in the middle of September; if it is done later, the crop yield decreases.
More on the yield reduction affects the sowing of oats for spring plowing. It should be noted that the depth of plowing of the earth directly depends on the width of the humus horizon; it is carried out without bringing the subsoil horizon to the surface (approximately 20-22 centimeters). Spring plowing is done to a depth of three centimeters less than the arable horizon, which completely reduces the appearance of the plow sole with an increase in moisture in the soil. Plowing do in turn in the fall or in collapse.
In the spring, tillage should be carried out in a very short time, which must be done in time for sowing oats. In early spring, it is necessary to harrow the zyabi, this agrotechnical technique allows to reduce the evaporation of moisture, which contributes to an increase in the "ripening" of the soil. Late spring harrowing makes no sense.
Harrowing and other land treatment activities should be carried out across, or diagonally after the previous treatment. Next, you need to disking or cultivating the land in two tracks.
Cultivation is a more efficient treatment that affects the increase in oat yield. One-track processing is unacceptable, as the seeds are not sown to the desired depth, and weeds are not destroyed. Almost always, before the pre-sowing treatment, mineral fertilizers are applied, which very well affects the development of culture in the future.
The following agrotechnical technique is rolling, it helps the seed culture of the seed, leveled in depth, the warming of the earth as soon as possible, which affects more congenial shoots. Rolling has a positive effect on the yield of oats.
This especially affects those fields in which they sow low-energy oats. Improvement of these indicators can be seen when applying pre-sowing rolling. Rolling should be done on not very wet ground, so that the sowing does not stick to the rollers. All plots must be rolled in before sowing the crop, during the spring plowing of the ground.
Requirements for soils that must be met in the cultivation of oats
Such a crop as oats, in comparison with other spring crops, is not too demanding on the soil, it is associated with a well-developed root system and assimilating ability. The roots grow into the soil up to 120 cm deep and up to 80 cm wide. Due to the good root system, oats can be sown on sandy, loamy, peaty and clayey soils.
On soils with a pH of 5-6, the culture also grows well. As mentioned earlier, there will be no oat harvest on saline soils.A good yield of oats is obtained on soils where the pH is below 5.5, with normal or high cultivation.
The very good precursors for oats are potatoes, corn, leguminous plants, and winter crops. It is not advisable to plant oats after beet crops, as they strongly dry the land.
Fertilizers that must be applied to obtain high yields of oats
Oats are very good at applying organic fertilizers. Therefore, it is sown in the second or third year after their introduction. Mineral fertilizers also have a positive effect on the crop. The best for oats are nitrogen fertilizers. The amount of fertilizer applied depends on the characteristics of the soil and on the precursor culture, on average, from 30 to 60-90 kg / ha of active substance is applied.
Phosphorus and potassium fertilizers should be applied for the main tillage. Nitrogen fertilizers in the amount of 40-60 kg / ha are best applied before sowing oats. If the amount of fertilizer is more, then they need to be applied at the beginning of booting. You need to know that if you overdo it with nitrogen fertilizers, it can put crops. It is also necessary in the period of sowing in the lines to make 10-15 kg / ha of phosphorus in the form of granules.
Copper fertilizers are applied to peat soils - pyrite cinder 3-4 c / ha or copper sulfate 20-25 kg / ha.
Acidic soils must be glittered.
When sowing oats on acidic soils, it is necessary to introduce alkaline nitrogen fertilizers, phosphate rock, which not only has a good effect on oats, but also reduces the acidity of the soil.
It is best to use seeds of zoned varieties for planting. Seeds should be large, sorted and aligned. These indicators are very important for oats, because it is characterized by stretched flowering and the formation of grains in a panicle. The first grains differ from others in their size and weight. They differ in energy of growth and shoots.
Features worth paying attention to before sowing culture
The first thing you should pay attention to is that they need to be divided into first and second, the difference between them is their size. From the first grains, larger plants grow, which tend to grow better and produce greater yield, unlike the second grains. In order to increase the germination energy, it is necessary to artificially heat the grains in grain dryers at an air temperature of 35-40 degrees.
Seeds before sowing need to be treated with fungicides or formalin 40%, not earlier than five days before sowing. The time of sowing of seeds is chosen depending on the ripening of the soil; the optimum temperature at the depth should be plus two or three degrees.
This treatment can be done dry or semi-dry method. The dry method of processing is necessary to do it for 2-3 months before sowing. This will provide the highest possible seed protection during germination. But in advance the seeds are treated only at a moisture content of not more than 14%. If the humidity is more than 17%, then it is necessary to apply the semi-dry method also in 2-3 months. To improve the effectiveness of the drug, you can add adhesive.
Seeds are sown with seed drills.
Dates of sowing oats
It is best to sow oats early. This process begins during the physical ripening of the earth. If you are a little late with the sowing of oats, it is not necessary to worry, as this will not affect its productivity. The best way of sowing oats is ordinary, more efficient - narrow-leaved.
What is the care of oat crops:
On light and arid lands it is necessary to carry out postseeding rolling with ring-spur rollers.This event improves the contact between seeds and soil, promotes friendly shoots, as well as better development of the root system. In fields with weeds, after sowing, it is necessary to treat with the herbicide Simazin-80% (in the amount of 0.25-0.3 kg / ha).
If a soil crust appears on the fields, then before the oats start to grow, it is necessary to harrow. This will lead to the removal of weeds, the destruction of the crust and a greater access of air to the roots of the crop. During harrowing, the length of the sprout should be no more than 1.5 centimeters, if it is longer, then you should wait until 3-4 leaves are formed so as not to harm the plant.
In order to increase the protein content in oat grains, which will be used for fodder purposes, it is necessary to apply 20-25 kg / ha of urea feeding at a liquid consumption of 300 l / ha.
In order to prevent lodging culture gently use retar-dant Tse-Tse-Tse 460 - 3-4 kg AI / ha during tillering. If necessary, the processing can be repeated.
If during the growing season, crops are clogged with unnecessary vegetation, then it is necessary to carry out processing during tillering before the formation of the tube.You can use such herbicides as Dialen, Amine soy, Lontrel.
It is necessary to treat the plant for diseases depending on the economic threshold of harmfulness. From brown and yellow rust, powdery mildew, stem rust and septoriais, various fungicides are used: Byeleton, Tilt, Fundazol. If the disease reappears, the plants are re-treated.
Pest control should be carried out when 1-4 larvae of ground beetle of grain, grain beetle 3-5 are found during flowering, grass flies are 30-50 per 100 sweeps of the net during germination, grain drinker is 40-50 / 1m2 during booting.
Heat requirements
As we already know, oats are cold-resistant culture. Oat seeds begin to germinate at a temperature of 1-2 degrees, but in order for seedlings to start appearing, a temperature of 3-4 degrees is needed. During the period of emergence and tillering of oats, the temperature of 15-18 degrees will be normal. Shoots can tolerate short-lived frost to -9 degrees. At later periods of germination, this resistance to frost decreases.
When the culture blooms, the temperature of 18-20 degrees will be best. During the period of milky ripeness of culture, it can transfer frosts up to -5 degrees. Oats well endured spring dry weather than other spring crops.Oats are subject to "fuse" at high summer temperatures.
Requirements for humidity
Oats are very moisture-loving culture. For swelling, the membranous grain needs moisture up to 60% of the grain weight, which is slightly more than that of other crops. Especially culture needs water when booting before flowering. With a lack of moisture in the culture can sharply decrease the yield. With heavy rainfall in early summer, oats give good yields afterwards. Late rainfall adversely affects the yield and ripening of grain.
Harvesting Culture
Oats ripen not evenly. The upper grains of the panicle first ripen, and then gradually maturation proceeds to the center and bottom of the panicle. Unlike wheat, oats do not mature well in rolls, therefore, with early harvesting, a uniform ripeness of grains is obtained. And when harvesting late, large grains begin to crumble.
There is a single-phase and two-phase oat harvest. Two-phase produce with the ripening of grain in the middle of the panicle, and single-phase with the full maturation of the panicle. Harvesting is carried out by a combine harvester.
