YURIEV PLANT PRODUCTION INSTITUTE
of the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences of Ukraine

CONDITION OF WINTER CROPS IN THE KHARKIVSKA OBLAST ON JANUARY 20, 2022

The weather in the 2021/2022 winter, like in most recent years, was characterized by elevated and instable temperatures. According to the Kharkiv Regional Meteorological Center’s data, in the first half of January, due to a series of cyclones and anticyclones that moved on the territory of the Oblast, there were significant air temperature contrasts, snow, sleet, and blizzard on the territory of the Oblast. The average air temperature was 5.3–7.1°С or by 1.2–1.8°С higher than the multi-year average. The minimum air temperature dropped to - 13 – - 16°С; the snow surface cooled to - 15 – - 21°С.

The precipitation amount in most parts of the Oblast was 20-27 mm or 140-175% of the multi-year average. The average thickness of snow cover ranged from 10 cm to 15 cm. The snow density was 0.20–0.35 g/cm3. On January 20, the depth of soil freezing ranged from 5 cm to 27 cm. Under the influence of warm air masses on the majority, there was no solid snow cover in most of the fields; in the northern and north-western parts of the Oblast, a ground ice crust formed in the fields, mainly in the depressions. Its average thickness was 1 - 2 mm.

The maximum wind speed was 15 - 17 m/s, sometimes up to 20 m/s, which made snow cover thickness in the fields various.

No threatening phenomena for overwintering of winter crops have been observed so far.

The minimum soil temperature at the winter crop tillering depth (3 cm) ranged within - 1 – 4°C, which is much higher than the calculated critical freezing point (- 14 – - 16°C for normally tillered plants and – 12 – -13 ° C for non-tillered (1-3 leaves) ones and freeze-susceptible varieties).

Scientists of the Sector of Resistance to Abiotic Factors of the Laboratory of Wheat Breeding and Physiology of the Plant Production Institute named after V.Ya. Yuriev of NAAS conducted a survey of winter crops. As of January 20, 2022, the initial inspection of selected plants found no significant damage; leaf blades of plants that were under snow cover looked undamaged and turgor; only tips 1.2-1.5 cm long were locally damaged and dried. Most of lower leaves, especially on well-tillered plants, turned yellow and macerated due to natural reutilization of nutrients into young organs and tillering nodes. Plant samples selected from winter crops regrew well; they actively formed new leaf blades and secondary roots in a greenhouse (Figs. 1, 2).

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