A two-day seminar-training of agronomic personnel "Conducting maintenance work in winter rape crops. Sowing winter crops" was held in the Vitebsk region. On the first day, the participants of the seminar-training worked in the Dubrovensky district.

Deputy heads of departments for agriculture and food for plant growing, heads of district state inspectorates for seed production, quarantine and plant protection of 11 districts of the Vitebsk region and heads of agricultural enterprises of the Dubrovensky district gathered in the large meeting room of the Dubrovensky district executive committee.

 According to the plan of the seminar, the first part included a meeting at which representatives of the Scientific and Practical Center of the Academy of Sciences of Belarus on Agriculture spoke.

 Thus, professor, doctor of agricultural sciences, head of the oil crops department of the Scientific and Production Center Yadviga Pilyuk spoke in detail about the cultivation of winter rape. In her speech, she paid special attention to the means of crop care that can help farmers to neutralize the vagaries of nature. She compared the characteristics of means of combating diseases and weeds and gave recommendations on the dosages and timing of use of such means at different stages of plant development.

She emphasized that all maintenance and preventive work will only be beneficial if it is done on time and in the required volumes. To do this, agronomists need to constantly monitor the phases of plant development, take into account weather conditions and do everything in a timely manner, because even a day of delay can lead to significant losses in crop formation.

Viktor Bushtevich, candidate of agricultural sciences and head of the grain department at the Scientific and Production Center, spoke about the specifics of sowing winter grain crops in this year’s conditions.

He described each winter crop in detail: wheat, triticale, rye, barley. He talked about the choice of soils for these crops, the best predecessors for them. After all, an incorrectly selected predecessor can not only lead to yield losses from 8 to 40%, but also damage to crops with serious diseases.

He spoke in detail about the preparation of the soil for winter sowing. Especially about the need to remove the stubble remains of previous crops. Failure to comply with this requirement can lead to a decrease in the harvest, since toxic phenolic substances are released during the decomposition of straw, which weaken developing plants.

The director of the plant protection inspection of the Vitebsk regional state inspection for seed production, quarantine and plant protection Nikolai Olenich conducted a detailed analysis of the results of harvesting winter crops this year, revealing the reasons for the shortcomings and losses of the harvest.

 Then the seminar participants went to the fields of Dubrovensky district. On the lands of Pravda-S OJSC they saw how recommendations for sowing winter barley are being implemented, and at Hero OJSC and Smirnov Agricultural Fund they visited winter rape fields. Scientists from the Scientific and Production Center once again showed agricultural specialists what issues should be paid attention to at all stages of winter sowing.

— Today we heard a lot of information. You must understand that we cannot change the weather, but we can follow the recommendations that scientists give us. Science serves to give us the opportunity to obtain the maximum result with rational costs. But for this we need to observe technology and production discipline. Control and more control. How to plow, how to apply fertilizer, how many seeds... You — the managers, specialists — must be aware of everything. I think that we will return to those fields where we heard comments on sowing in the fall to look at the results and draw conclusions, — said Vitaly Vorobyov, head of the department of agriculture, plant growing and forage production of the regional agricultural products department, at the end of the seminar in our district.

Elena KORSAKOVA.