Assessment and testing of strawberry pathogens

Success story of the Euphresco project 'Assessment and testing of strawberry pathogens

Is Estonian barley ready to tackle climate change-induced water regimes?

Saabunud / Received 25.09.2021 ; Aktsepteeritud / Accepted 27.10.2021 ; Avaldatud veebis / Published online 27.10.2021 ; Vastutav autor / Corresponding author: Siim Samuel Sepp [email protected] objective was to examine the effect of drought and flood on barley plants' biomass and growth rate in early vegetative development while comparing the stress adaption of different varieties. A greenhouse trial was conducted in the Estonian Crop Research Institute (ECRI) in 2021, where five Estonian grown spring barley varieties were grown in optimal, drought and flood treatments for six weeks to measure plants' projected leaf area (PA) and relative growth rate (RGR) through phenotyping. Both drought and flooding stress have a strong negative impact on plant biomass in early vegetative growth phases, causing PA at the end of the trial to decrease 26% and 49% respectively. Meanwhile, RGR throughout the trial decreased 6% in drought treatment and 16% in flood treatment. This indicates the greater impact of flood stress on plant's growth compared to drought stress. Genetic variation related to adaption to extreme water regimes in varieties is rather low, especially in drought stress conditions. In drought treatment, the variation coefficient (CV) was 14%, and in flood treatment 25%. Even as most varieties' PA and RGR varied between treatments, the difference between varieties in specific stress treatments was minimal. Estonian grown spring barley varieties are susceptible to extreme water regime related stress caused by potential climate change. This indicates the importance of assessing water-related stress tolerance in breeding material, adapting more accurate innovative evaluation approaches, and integrating climate-resilient genetic material into breeding programs, to hedge the risk caused by unfavourable growth environments in Estonian barley production

Talvine vahekultuur mõjutab kartulimugulate hõbekärnaga nakatumist

Kartuli (Solanum tuberosum L.) hõbekärn (Helminthosporium solani Durieu, Mont) on seenhaigus, mis viimastel aastatel on osutunud tootmises äärmiselt problemaatiliseks. Haigustekitaja nakatab valmivaid mugulaid juba mullas, kuid eoste kaudu levib haigus hoidlas jõudsalt edasi, mistõttu peetakse hõbekärna ka säilitushaiguseks. Patogeen tungib mugulasse läbi loomulike avade siis, kui mugulad on saavutanud juba oma suuruse ja massi, kuid toimub veel koore kinnistumine. Seetõttu on vajalik mugulad põllult võimalikult ruttu koristada. Hõbekärna nakatunud mugulate koore pinnale tekivad pruunikashallid laigud. Kui mugulad puutuvad kokku veega ilmneb nakatunud kohal iseloomulik hõbe-metalne läige. Eriti hästi ongi haigust näha just pestud mugulate pinnalt. Nakatunud mugulatel levivad haiguskolded jõudsalt üle terve mugula ning haigus levib edasi tervetele mugulatele, mis omakorda nakatuvad. Kui hõbekärn on katnud kogu mugula pinna, hakkab selle veesisaldus järk-järgult vähenema. Tekivad massikaod, sest nakatunud mugulad tõmbuvad veekao tõttu kokku. Mugulate hõbekärna nakatumist ei ole võimalik maapealse biomassi järgi tuvastada, sest haigus maapealsel osal ei lööbi. Samuti puuduvad andmed, kui pikalt on hõbekärna tekitaja mullas elujõuvõimeline. Hõbekärna tõrjumiseks puuduvad veel praktilised võtted ning ühtlasi puuduvad ka hõbekärna tekitaja suhtes resistentsed sordid Lebeca jt., mis teeb hõbekärnast kartulikasvatuses ühe ohtlikuma haiguse. Seetõttu ongi vaja uurida, millised agronoomilised võtted on võimelised vähendama mugulate hõbekärnaga nakatumist

The aftereffect of winter wheat on pea yield, nitrogen surplus and nitrogen use efficiency in different cropping systems

The present study is part of a framework for researching the use of the field pea in cropping systems in order to improve its economic and environmental output. The specific aim was to investigate the effect of differently fertilised preceding winter wheat on subsequent field pea output in the same crop rotation. The field experiment was conducted in Tartu county, Estonia, in 2012–2017. Seven different cropping systems were investigated: four conventional with different treatments of mineral nitrogen fertilisers and three organic including catch crops and cattle manure treatment. The DM yield of field pea in winter wheat mineral N treatments 50–150 kg N ha-1 was 2699–2852 kg ha-1, which was 33% higher than in the organic systems. There were no significant differences (p < 0.05) in nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) and N surplus between 50–150 kg N ha-1. The first 20 kg ha-1 mineral N with P25 and K95 gave a significantly higher pea yield compared to the treatment without mineral N. The catch crops reduced agronomic NUE and increased N surplus in the organic cropping systems. &nbsp

Erinevate viljelusviiside pikaajalise kasutamise mõju mulla toitainete sisaldusele

Taimedele oluliste makrotoiteelementide (N, P, K) sisaldused mullas on 10 aasta jooksul nii mahe- kui ka tavasüsteemi kõigi variantide mullas vähenenud. Lämmastikukadu mullast oli mahesüsteemi variantidel väiksem kui tavasüsteemi variantidel, seega mulla lämmastikusisalduse järgi oli maheviljeluse süsteem mullaviljakust säästvam kui tavaviljeluse süsteem. Mulla fosforisisalduse taset hoidev oli mahesüsteemis väetamisvariant, kus kasvatati talviseid vahekultuure ja külvikorra jooksul väetati taimi kolm korda sõnnikuga ning tavasüsteemis maksimaalses koguses lämmastikku saav variant. Kaaliumisisaldus vähenes kõigi katses olnud variantide mullas. Et kaaliumisisaldus ei väheneks kriitilise piirini, peab mulda viidava kaaliumi kogust suurendama – mahesüsteemis on soovitav kasutada looduslikel mineraalidel põhinevaid mahepõllumajanduses lubatud väetisi ja tavasüsteemis suurendada näiteks kartulile antava K kogust. Võimalik on ka muuta külvikorras kasvatatavaid kultuure

The long-term trends in soil carbon stock and crop productivity depending on management in Estonia

The dynamics of soil organic carbon (SOC) content and crop productivity were studied on three still continuing field experiments situated at the experimental station of the Estonian University of Life Sciences in Tartu, Estonia. The first trial was established in 1964. The effect of mineral fertilizers and farmyard manure applied to barley and sward with different species composition on soil organic carbon content was studied. The second trial with 3-crop rotation (potato - spring wheat - spring barley) was established in 1989. Experimental factors were organic (without amendment, solid cattle manure and alternative organic fertilisers) and mineral fertilisers (0, 40, 80, 120 and 160 kg N ha-1). The third field experiment with 5-crop rotation experiment was established in 2008. Five different crops were following each other – barley undersown with red clover, red clover, winter wheat, pea and potato. Experimental factors were organic (catch crops as green manures, catch crops as green manures combined with composted cattle manure) and conventional farming systems. The conventional farming systems differed in the amounts of mineral fertilizers used: 0, 50, 100 and 150 kg N ha-1. The first goal of this research was to quantify plant C inputs to the soil in Estonian arable lands and the net primary production using crop-specific allometric relationships. Secondly, the impact of the different management scenarios on the changes in soil C stock was evaluated using plant C input data. The preliminary results of these data analysis will be presented

Organic Cropping Systems do not Increase Weed Seed Numbers but do Increase Weed Diversity

The influence of different cropping systems on the soil weed seed bank after the first crop rotation within a five-field crop rotation (barley undersown with red clover, red clover, winter wheat, pea, potato) in three organic (Org) and in two conventional (Conv) cropping systems was investigated. In organic systems Org I and Org II cover crops were incorporated as a source of nutrient inputs to the soil and in Org II composted cattle manure was also applied. The Org 0 acted as the organic control system without cover crops and manure. The two conventional cropping systems were treated with herbicides and fungicides and differed in fertilizer application (i.e. Conv I no fertilizer use (as control) and Conv II mineral fertilizer use). In general, the lowest number of annual weed seeds was found in system Conv I, the highest in Conv II. In organic systems with cover crops (Org I, II) there was a strong tendency for decreased weed seed numbers and increased biodiversity. The highest values of the Shannon-Wiener diversity index and Margalef richness index were in Org II system. In all systems the most abundant species in weed seed banks were Chenopodium album L. and Viola arvensis Murr

Barley undersown with red clover in organic and conventional systems: nitrogen aftereffect on legume growth

Nitrogen (N) deficiency is a major problem in organic and low-input farming systems. Growing spring cereals with undersown legumes has a positive effect on soil fertility, enriching it with nitrogen, through symbiosis of legumes with nodule bacteria. Two hypotheses were tested: 1) undersowing of red clover increases the protein content of barley grains and 2) mineral N has negative aftereffect on growth of legume plants. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of organic (cattle manure, off-season cover crop) and mineral N in organic and conventional farming systems on (i) barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) grain yield and quality, (ii) biomass yield formation of undersown red clover (Trifolium pratense L.) and (iii) the aftereffect of mineral and organic N fertilisers on the red clover crop biomass yield in the following year. The experiment was established in 2008 at the Estonian University of Life Sciences (58°22ʹ N, 26°40ʹ E) on the soil described as Stagnic Albic Luvisol (LV ab-st) (WRB, 2014) with sandy loam surface texture, 1.38% C, 0.13% N, 133 mg kg-1 P, 210 mg kg-1 K and pHKCl 6.0. The crops were treated using different farming systems: three organic (Org0, OrgI and OrgII) and four conventional (N0, N40, N80 and N120); nitrogen sources during crop cycle period: N0 and Org0 = symbiotically fixed atmospheric N2, N40 = N2 + mineral N 40 kg ha-1 N, N80 = N2 + mineral N 80 kg ha-1 N, N120 = N2 + mineral N 120 kg ha-1 N, OrgI = N2 + N taken up by cover crops (NCC) and OrgII = N2 + NCC + N applied with manure (Nm). Our study revealed that grain yield of barley was strongly affected by undersown red clover; because of competition for nutrients in cereallegume mixture the grain yield of barley in organic system was 11‒61% lower than that in conventional system. The seed rate of undersown red clover (2.84 million viable seed per ha) was too high. The content of proteiin depended on the availability of mineralised nitrogen. The mean protein content of barley grains over the trial years and treatments was 99 ± 1.6 g kg-1 in the conventional system, which was 17% higher than that in the organic system. Undersowing of red clover had no significantly positive effect on the grain yield and protein content of barley. Mineral N fertiliser had no negative aftereffect on growth of the red clover crop the following year. Mean above ground biomass yield over the trial years for the red clover crop 2nd cut was 17% higher in the conventional system than in the organic system

Long-term effect of farming systems on the yield of crop rotation and soil nutrient content

The effects of organic (manure, cover crop) and mineral fertilisers on total yield, soil phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) dynamics and soil pH changes were studied over 10 years. Five field crops (spring barley, red clover, winter wheat, field pea, potato) were grown organically and conventionally in rotation. The total yield of the five crops fertilized similarly was 24–25% higher in conventionally fertilised treatments than in organic treatments. The higher yielding conventionally fertilised treatments (annual total yield 29.0–29.8 t ha–1) removed 12–18 kg ha–1 P and 45–73 kg ha–1 K per year, which was respectively 28–35% and 28–40% higher than organic treatments. The soil became more acidic in the conventional system (pH 5.4–5.9 versus 5.9–6.3). The highest annual P and K uptake was by potato, followed by winter wheat. Use of winter cover crops and composted cattle manure in the organic system did not maintain the levels of P and K in the soil at baseline

Impact of Weather Conditions and Farming Systems on Size Distribution of Starch Granules and Flour Yield of Winter Wheat

The size distribution of wheat-grain starch granules has an impact on the yield of finne flour. The aim of the study was to compare the impact of conventional (mineral fertilizers, pesticides) and organic farming treatments (cover crops, composted cattle manure) on (i) the size distribution of starch granules, (ii) the level of the first break whole and fine flour yield. The grain samples of winter wheat cv Fredis were taken from a long-term field crop rotation experiment established in 2008 at the Estonian University of Life Sciences in Tartu County (58°22′ N, 26°40′ E) on Stagnic Luvisol soil. The weather conditions during the grain filling period of winter wheat had a strong impact (p < 0.001) on the grain starch granule size distribution. The proportion of starch granules with a smaller diameter (C-type granules) was higher in years with a longer grain filling period. The size distribution of starch granules was not influenced by farming system. The increased proportion of C-type granules increased the fine flour yield significantly. Fertilisation with organic manure and twice with mineral nitrogen increased significantly the mean diameter value of different starch granules