Autumn and winter planting: monitor soil moisture and sow at the right time
Expert interpretation: Standardized wheat tillage and sowing techniques
The standard for planting wheat well means that after sowing, wheat emerges promptly, with complete, even and strong seedlings, no visible or hidden clods in the plow layer, firm soil, and suitable soil moisture. In the Huang-Huai-Hai region, before winter it should reach the 5-leaf 1-heart or 6-leaf 1-heart stage, with 5-8 secondary roots per plant, and the total stem number per mu before winter should reach 1.5-1.8 times the planned ear number. For a county as a whole, more than 85% of wheat fields should meet the standards for first- and second-class seedlings, and after pre-winter and winter management, first- and second-class seedlings should reach 90% in early spring. With such seedling conditions, management before winter, in spring and in the later period is all proactive, laying the seedling foundation for a bumper wheat harvest.
“Seven parts planting, three parts management” refers to the importance of planting and management for a bumper wheat harvest and the effort invested in planting and managing wheat. For a county, it takes about half a month from the start of plowing to finishing sowing across the whole county, and for a single field it takes about 6-7 days from plowing to finishing sowing. From plowing to finishing sowing, there are as many as 10 technical issues to implement, including variety selection, seed dressing with chemicals, straw return to the field, deep plowing or deep loosening and harrowing and pressing, soil moisture creation, fertilization, sowing date, sowing rate, mechanical sowing and improving mechanical sowing quality, and post-sowing pressing. If these techniques are all done well, the quality of wheat seedlings before winter is high, and subsequent management is relatively simple: autumn chemical weed control, watering for winter, spring fertilization and irrigation, spraying at flowering to prevent fusarium head blight, and “one spray, three preventions” in the later period. The 6-7 days of tillage and sowing require implementing 10 production techniques, while the 6-7 months after sowing require implementing 5-6 techniques. Tillage and sowing is the technology-intensive stage. With high sowing quality and good seedling conditions, post-sowing management is proactive at every step and does not take much effort. Therefore, wheat production is said to be “seven parts planting, three parts management.”
If the tillage and sowing stage of wheat is not taken seriously, after sowing there will be many clods in the plow layer, poor soil moisture, poor sowing quality, uneven wheat emergence, weak seedlings, and insufficient population. In winter they are prone to freezing and drought, forming third-class seedlings, and upgrading third-class seedlings is very difficult, making subsequent management passive at every step.
China's wheat yield rose from an average of about 50 kg per mu in 1950, the early period after the founding of New China, to an average of 349.5 kg per mu in 2014. In terms of production technology, wheat production has gone through three stages: farmers cultivating with personal experience, agricultural departments summarizing farmers' experience for technology extension and cultivation, and agricultural science and technology personnel researching individual technologies and integrating technology systems for extension and cultivation. At present, modern wheat production should develop in the direction of standardized cultivation techniques.
Standardization refers to achieving unity in economic, technical, scientific and management practices for repetitive matters and concepts through the formulation, issuance and implementation of standardized procedures, so as to obtain the best order and social and economic benefits. Standardization is an important means and necessary condition for organizing modern production; it is the premise for rationally organizing specialized production; it is the foundation for realizing scientific management and modern management; it is the technical guarantee for improving product yield, quality, safety and hygiene; and it is an effective way to rationally utilize resources, save energy and save raw materials. After years of scientific research and production practice summarized by agricultural science and technology personnel, the configuration of key technical measures for wheat production technology and the demand for production factors such as fertilizer, pesticides, irrigation, sowing rate and sowing date have entered a stage of appropriate and digital application from a stage of estimated and excessive application. At this time, our standardized research on wheat production technology will powerfully promote the development of wheat production in the direction of agricultural modernization.
The compilation of standardized technical regulations for wheat tillage and sowing, first, is closely combined with the Ministry of Agriculture's wheat high-yield creation and green high-yield model research, and conforms to the requirements of high and stable yield and water control, fertilizer saving and pesticide saving. Second, it is highly regional, practical and operable. Third, it combines proactive response technologies to overcome climate disasters with contingency technologies to reduce losses caused by disasters. Fourth, it combines improving the current wheat yield per unit area with the long-term sustainable development of wheat production.
All localities should, according to local climate conditions, soil fertility and other factors, integrate standardized technical regulations for wheat tillage and sowing suitable for the region. The regulations should include the following technical issues:
Variety selection: consider the winter-spring nature of the variety in adaptation to climate conditions, the fertilizer and water requirements of the variety in adaptation to soil fertility levels and irrigation conditions, and the comprehensive resistance of the variety.
Seed dressing with chemicals: prevent and control underground pests and seedling-stage diseases and insect pests.
Straw return to the field: consider the degree to which straw is chopped and plow the straw into the ground. If deep loosening technology is used, rotary tillage requires a depth of 15 cm to cut the straw into the soil layer; irrigate to make the soil firm, and if soil moisture is suitable, harrow and press it firm.
Deep plowing or deep loosening and harrowing and pressing: deep plow 23-25 cm and then harrow and press, or use deep loosening at 30-35 cm and then rotary till with a rotary tiller, then harrow and press after rotary tillage, so as to break clods and settle the soil, which is conducive to root penetration; settling the soil can prevent the seeder wheels from sinking into the soil and deepening sowing depth. The effect of deep plowing or deep loosening can last for 2 years, so it is not necessary to deep plow or deep loosen every year. After deep plowing or deep loosening in one year, only rotary tillage is needed for 2 years.
Soil moisture creation: when the relative water content of the 0-40 cm soil layer is below 70%, soil moisture must be created. This can be done by creating soil moisture first and then sowing, or by sowing and then watering to cover the seed and promptly breaking the soil surface to allow emergence.
Fertilization: soil testing and formula fertilization, combined application of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium fertilizers, and supplementary trace fertilizers for deficiencies; high-yield fields use the nitrogen fertilizer postponement technique, applying base fertilizer at sowing and leaving an appropriate amount for topdressing.
Sowing date: determine the wheat sowing date according to the total stem number before winter required for high yield, basic seedlings, tiller number per plant, and accumulated temperature before winter. Sowing is required at the formulated sowing date, so that the planned total stem number per mu can be reached before winter and the pre-winter population is appropriate. The winter-spring nature of the variety should be considered, and spring-type varieties should be sown appropriately late.
Sowing rate: determining the appropriate sowing rate requires consideration of the tillering ability and tiller ear-bearing rate of the wheat variety, sowing date, the required total stem number per mu before winter, the germination rate of wheat seeds, and the field emergence rate, so as to ultimately reach the planned ear number per mu without causing lodging in the later period. In modern winter wheat production, meteorological drought and low temperatures are often encountered in autumn, winter and spring, which can cause some wheat tillers to die from drought or freezing. These factors should also be considered when determining the wheat sowing rate.
Mechanical sowing and improving sowing quality: first, advocate sowing with a wheat wide-width precision seeder; second, determine the appropriate sowing row spacing. Wheat wide-width precision seeders often have too wide row spacing, so attention should be paid to adjustment; third, ensure consistent row spacing, accurate sowing rate, and consistent sowing depth, with a sowing depth of 3-5 cm; fourth, do not miss sowing or repeat sowing.
Post-sowing pressing: seeders with press wheels should press as they sow, paying attention to pressing quality. For seeders without press wheels, a press roller should be used after sowing.
(The author is an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and head of the Wheat Expert Guidance Group of the Ministry of Agriculture.)
Drought appears: Shandong makes every effort to fight drought, protect autumn planting and promote autumn management
In late October, in the vast farmlands of southwestern Shandong Province, the wheat seeds sown this autumn and winter had already grown seedlings about a cun long, with a tender green look as if spring had returned. At present, it is a key period for autumn harvest, autumn planting and autumn management. Reporters came to Heze City, Liaocheng City and other places in Shandong Province, a major grain-producing province, to interview about grain production.
Harvest: autumn harvest basically over, purchasing progress slow
At present, the autumn grain harvest in Shandong Province has basically ended. Hou Degong, director of the Liaocheng City Agricultural Committee, told reporters that Liaocheng's autumn harvest entered the main flow on October 2 and ended on the 10th, about 7 days later than usual.
The 7-day delay in autumn harvest comes from a technology promoted in recent years: timely late harvest technology for corn. This year, this technology was fully implemented in Liaocheng. Hou Degong said: before the autumn harvest, the city and county levels vigorously publicized the benefits of timely late harvest, and combined with sufficient sunlight, the yield-increasing effect was prominent. According to estimates, the thousand-grain weight of corn was 6-7 grams higher than the theoretical thousand-grain weight, effectively promoting increased production for farmers.
In the 200,000-mu high-yield grain creation demonstration area built in Yuncheng County, Heze City, Yuncheng County head Gu Yongqiang introduced that this year Yuncheng County's total grain output reached 2.32 billion jin, with total output exceeding 2 billion jin for 5 consecutive years.
Liu Quanli is a farmer in Dumiao Village, Huanggang Town, Mudan District, Heze City, and has planted 3 mu of land. He told reporters that this year the corn harvest was good, not only with high yield but also particularly good quality, but the price per jin was nearly 0.3 yuan lower than last year, which made them very worried, and because the price was too low and also unstable, corn purchasing has basically stopped now.
Planting: autumn planting entering its final stage, southwestern Shandong hit by drought
At present, autumn planting in Shandong Province has entered its final stage. Wang Dengqi, deputy director of the Shandong Provincial Department of Agriculture, told reporters that Shandong Province's sown area continued to increase this year. According to surveys, the province's wheat sown area is expected to be 57.39 million mu, an increase of 392,000 mu over the previous year.
However, drought has recently appeared in some areas of Shandong. According to statistics, since September, Shandong Province has continued to have little rain, with an average precipitation of 38.6 mm, nearly 60% less than usual, and an average temperature of 20.1°C, 0.8°C higher than usual. This has led to relatively severe drought in parts of eastern Shandong, southern Shandong and central Shandong, bringing difficulties to autumn planting and normal wheat emergence.
At present, Shandong Province is making every effort to fight drought. The Provincial Department of Agriculture sent 3 expert guidance groups for drought resistance and autumn planting protection to areas with more severe drought to guide scientific drought resistance and autumn planting protection. Agricultural departments at all levels study and judge drought development trends, promptly release disaster warning information, and scientifically guide soil moisture creation and sowing while seizing available moisture. They strengthen communication and contact with departments of water conservancy, Yellow River affairs, and meteorology, actively coordinate all available water sources for drought-resistant sowing, and promptly water to protect seedlings.
“At present, Liaocheng's drought-resistant irrigation area has reached 5.22 million mu, accounting for 86.7% of the area prepared for sowing.” Hou Degong said.
Management: formulate technical guidance to ensure safe overwintering of wheat
On October 29, the Shandong Provincial Department of Agriculture organized relevant experts from the Wheat Subgroup of the Provincial Agricultural Expert Advisory Group, the Provincial Wheat Industry Technology System and the agricultural technology extension system to formulate and issue the “2015 Technical Opinions on Pre-Winter Field Management of Wheat in the Province,” proposing that in view of the current wheat seedling conditions, the main direction of pre-winter management is, on the basis of drought resistance and seedling protection, to promote roots and increase tillers, promote weak seedlings and control excessive growth, cultivate strong seedlings, and ensure safe overwintering of seedlings.
The “Opinions” proposed that doing a good job in pre-winter wheat management is a key measure to ensure complete and uniform seedlings and cultivate a reasonable population and strong pre-winter seedlings. All localities should focus on pressing and hoeing, fertilizer and water regulation, pre-winter chemical weed control, and watering for overwintering. At the same time, they should closely monitor weather changes and, before freezing, mobilize the masses to water the wheat fields well for overwintering, laying the foundation for building a reasonable pre-winter population and achieving a bumper summer grain harvest next year.