In the soft wheat group there is more than one variety that has excellent agricultural characteristics. Let's consider the description and characteristics of Iren wheat, varietal advantages and disadvantages, what features of growing and caring for this cereal exist. How to protect wheat plants from pests and diseases, how to harvest and store.
Description and characteristics of Iren wheat
The Iren variety comes from the Irgina and Krasnoufimskaya 90 varieties.The variety is recommended to be grown in the West Siberian and Volga-Vyatka regions. The wheat plant is erect, has a hollow culm, and has a waxy coating. Iren's spike is pyramidal, not dense, with short awns at the top. Wheat grain is elongated, colored. The weight of a thousand seeds is 35-42 g.
The yield of the variety is 23.6-38.4 centners per hectare, which is within the standard. The maximum you can collect is 60.8 c/ha. The Iren variety is early ripening, grows for 77-93 days. The varietal plants are resistant to lodging, and the baking qualities of the flour are good. Resistance to powdery mildew is average; wheat is infected with stem rust, septoria, and root rot. High susceptibility to smut, hard and dusty, brown rust.
Advantages and disadvantages
Advantages of the Iren variety:
- ripe grain does not fall off and does not germinate on the vine;
- complete seed germination if agricultural practices are followed;
- the ear does not break;
- productivity, high-quality grain according to technological indicators;
- assessment of baking qualities - 4.5-4.9 points.
Disadvantages: instability to root rot, rust and septoria.
Specifics of growing and caring for cereals
The predecessors of Iren wheat can be fallow and grain fodder crops, perennial grasses in the forest-steppe and steppe zones, in the Urals and Volga region - legumes, black fallow, row crops and grasses. In Siberia and the Urals, wheat is sown after fallow. In areas of good moisture, the variety is cultivated after corn, beets, potatoes, legumes, and perennial grasses.
Seeds of soft wheat germinate already at a temperature of 1-2 degrees Celsius. The most favorable temperature is 12-15 °C. When sowing at a standard depth, seedlings can be seen within a week.Plants of the Iren variety can tolerate short frosts during germination and during the tillering period.
Wheat is resistant to heat and dry air if there is moisture in the soil. But severe drought reduces yields and deteriorates grain quality. The moisture consumption of wheat during the growing season is distributed as follows: at the germination stage - 5-7%, tillering - 15-20%, booting and heading - 50-60%, milky ripeness - 20-30%, waxy - 3-5%. Moisture deficiency during the tillering period increases the percentage of infertile spikelets; during the period of formation and filling of grains, their size and fullness decrease, resulting in a decrease in yield.
Wheat is demanding on soil, especially in the initial stages of development. It develops best on chestnut soils and chernozems. Wheat grows poorly on heavy clays and sandy soils unless fertilizers are applied. Both organic and mineral fertilizers can be used as fertilizers; the acidity should be neutral.
During the heading-flowering phase, it is advisable to apply foliar fertilizing with urea, which improves the quality of grains and increases the percentage of protein and gluten. During development, plants need the elements copper, boron, zinc, molybdenum and manganese.
Treatment against weeds is carried out at the tillering stage and at the stage of 2-4 leaves of weeds.For root shoot weeds, wheat is treated with herbicides “Dialen”, amine salt, “Lontrel”.
Protection from pests and diseases
Before sowing, fungicidal treatment of seeds against smut and root rot is carried out with the preparations “Vitavax”, “TMTD”, “Fundazol”. Plants are treated against rust and septoria with Bayleton, Fundazol, and Tilt at the tillering stage. Repeat if signs of illness appear.
Against pests, crops of the Iren variety are sprayed during the germination and tillering period against grain ground beetle, against grain flies - during the germination period, and against grain leechweed - at the tillering stage.
Harvest and storage
The harvesting time is calculated depending on the weather, the density and height of the plants, and weed infestation. To avoid shedding, cleaning should be done in a short time - 1-1.5 weeks.
Iren wheat is mainly harvested immediately, that is, by direct harvesting. If the average height of the plants is exceeded, the grain is unevenly ripened or the crops are clogged, then two-phase harvesting is used. Plants at the stage of wax ripeness are mowed with reapers and placed in windrows. After 4-5 days they are picked up and threshed.
Store harvested grain in granaries at a humidity of no more than 12-16%. In such conditions, grain can lie for at least a year without spoilage or reduction in quality. To preserve grain, different methods are used - ventilation, both natural and artificial, blowing the grain mass with air, cooling with cold air. An airless method of grain storage is also used.
Wheat of the Iren variety has a lot of advantages - it germinates well, gives a high yield, and the grain does not fall off. According to technological characteristics, it is a valuable wheat. The baking qualities of the flour are rated as high.Disadvantages include instability to diseases, which are combated by dressing and treating plants with fungicides.
