Agricultural crops are those cultivated by farmers and large agro-industrial enterprises to obtain food, livestock feed, and technological raw materials. There are several main types of such plants. Of course, the cultivation of agricultural crops must be carried out in strict compliance with certain technologies.

Main types

Most agricultural enterprises have broad specialization and grow the most different cultures. These can be grains, vegetables, fruit trees, root crops, etc. But most often in Russia the following crops are cultivated:

• wheat, barley, rye and oats;
• potato;
• sunflower;
• forage grasses;
• sugar beet.

These are the main types of agricultural crops in our country. Of course, domestic farmers sometimes grow vegetables. Such crops are most often cultivated in greenhouses.

Grain growing technology

When cultivating oats, wheat, barley and rye, agricultural enterprises carry out the following activities:

• basic and pre-sowing soil preparation;
• fertilization;
• seed preparation;
• sowing;
• planting care;
• harvesting.

Sowing time

Grain crops can be cultivated in winter or spring. In the first case, sowing takes place in the autumn, in the second - in the spring. The most important task when growing grain crops is to determine the timing of planting seeds into the soil. They should be selected so that winter grains reach the tillering phase before the onset of cold weather and form at least 3-4 shoots. Therefore, the optimal time for sowing grain crops in the non-chernozem zone of Russia is the first ten days of September. Sometimes planting is carried out at the end of August. When cultivating spring crops, the sowing time is determined by the condition of the soil. Most often, grains are planted in mid- or late April.

Plowing the land

Tillage of the soil before sowing grain is carried out so that as much post-harvest residue as possible remains on the surface. This is necessary in order to avoid erosion and retain as much moisture as possible in the ground.

In most cases, various types of mineral fertilizers are applied during plowing. Next, early spring harrowing is carried out for spring crops, and pre-sowing cultivation is carried out for winter crops.

Sowing seeds

After the soil has been prepared, the actual planting of the crops takes place. In this case, only healthy, undamaged seeds that meet the stipulated standards are used. Before sowing, they are treated to avoid infection with fungal, bacterial and other diseases. Winter grain crops are grown from seeds from the previous year's harvest. For their storage, special funds are created at agricultural enterprises. Freshly collected seeds are rarely used when planting. The fact is that they have reduced germination. At the final stage of planting, the seeds are rolled to improve their contact with the soil.

Grain care

Subsequently, to obtain a good harvest, the following activities are carried out:

• Protection of grains from pests and diseases. As necessary, treat with fungicides and insecticides.
• Removing weeds. In this case, grain crops are treated with herbicides.
• Feeding. Grains are fertilized during the season, usually using nitrogenous compounds.

Harvest

This operation can be performed in two ways: directly or separately. Two-phase harvesting is performed for unevenly ripened, laid down or heavily clogged crops. In all other cases, the usual direct combining is performed.

Potato cultivation technology

Grain crops are the main type of plants cultivated by domestic agricultural enterprises. However, potatoes are also quite widespread. The technology for cultivating this crop includes the following stages:

• soil preparation;
• landing;
• plant care;
• harvesting.

Land preparation and planting

Potato plots are usually chosen with loose soil that allows moisture and air to pass through well. Only in such areas can good yields of this crop be obtained. The best predecessors for potatoes are winter grains, corn, perennial and annual grasses.

The soil for potatoes is usually prepared in the fall. At the same time, plowing is carried out (autumn plowing) with the application of fertilizers. In April, the soil surface is leveled and early spring harrowing is carried out.

Only healthy, undamaged large and medium-sized tubers are used for sowing. 10-12 days before planting, they are unloaded from storage and sorted. Next, the tubers are germinated or simply dried. Sometimes before planting, potatoes are treated with ash, mineral fertilizers and fungicides.

Tubers are planted only in well-warmed soil. At the same time, 55-60 thousand bushes are placed per 1 hectare. Early varieties are usually planted more densely, late varieties less often. The landing itself can be ridge, semi-ridge or smooth. The first two methods are more often used on wet or heavy soils. The ridges are cut a few days before planting.

Potato care

The first shoots of this crop appear in about two to three weeks. During smooth planting in agricultural enterprises, harrowing is carried out. It can be carried out before germination or after germination. In the future, caring for potatoes comes down to hilling and weeding. The first operation is performed twice per season: when the height of the bushes is 15-18 cm and before flowering. Weeding is carried out as needed. Plantings of agricultural crops of this variety, among other things, must be periodically treated against late blight (fungicides) and the Colorado potato beetle (Decis, Volaton).

Cleaning

The ripening time of tubers depends primarily on the potato variety. To facilitate mechanical harvesting in agricultural enterprises, the tops are usually mowed. This operation is performed in 3-5 days. Cleaning itself can be done in three ways:

• direct combining - on light crops;
• using separate technology - on heavy soils;
• in a combined way.

Before storing, seed tubers are kept in the light for 10-12 days until light greening occurs. Table potatoes are dried in air for several hours. Of course, like any other major crop, potatoes must be stored correctly. Place the tubers for the winter in dark, cool rooms in bulk or in boxes.

Sunflower cultivation technology

This crop is usually grown after winter and spring grains. Pre-sowing preparation of land for sunflowers includes operations such as plowing, harrowing and leveling the soil with special drags. Cultivation is carried out at a seed planting depth (6-10 cm). Manure is usually used as fertilizer for plowing. Sometimes mineral fertilizers can be used (depending on the composition of the soil).

For sowing, seeds of registered varieties and hybrids with a germination rate of at least 95% are used. Planting is done in well-warmed soil at the rate of 30-50 thousand plants per hectare. Sowing is carried out in a dotted manner. At the final stage, the sections are rolled.

Sunflower care in our country is carried out using exclusively mechanized methods. The first operation to be carried out is harrowing before and after germination, with simultaneous weeding and the use of herbicides. Further sunflower care includes procedures such as:

• Fight against empty grain. To do this, hives are placed throughout the plot at a rate of 1.5-2 per hectare.
• Pest and disease control using chemicals.

Harvesting occurs after the back of the baskets turns yellow. The reed flowers should fall off. Sunflower, like most other agricultural crops, is harvested using special combines.

Technology of growing forage grasses

Agricultural crops in this group can be cultivated as pasture or for hay or silage. There are many types of forage grasses. But most often in our country alfalfa, clover, vetch and legumes are grown. The technology of their cultivation, like any other agricultural crops, includes soil preparation, sowing, care and harvesting.

A special feature of growing herbs is a very deep, 25-30 cm, plowing (due to long roots), the possibility of sowing perennial crops under the cover of annual ones and fertilizing with mineral fertilizers during the growth period. Plants are harvested in the budding or flowering phase.

Growing sugar beets

About 21 thousand hectares of arable land are used for this crop in Russia. The optimal depth for plowing the land for beets is 25-30 cm. This type of tillage is carried out in the fall - usually in September. At the same time, manure is applied in an amount of 40-80 t/ha. Treated seeds are used for sowing. Planting is carried out to a depth of 25-35 mm, depending on the type of soil, using special seeders. Caring for beets consists mainly of weeding or using herbicides, as well as protecting plants from pests and diseases using chemicals. Harvesting of this crop usually begins on September 20-25. In this case, in-line, transshipment or combined technologies can be used. The last two methods are usually used in areas with increased contamination.

Growing vegetables in greenhouses

A feature of cultivating crops of this variety in closed ground is the periodic use of fertilizing and replacement of soil. After all, the soil in greenhouses is depleted very quickly. Also, in such farms maximum attention should be paid to pest and disease control. Infections spread very quickly in closed ground conditions. Seeds of agricultural crops of this variety before planting in mandatory are etched.

Most often, cucumbers, tomatoes, eggplants, peppers and melons are grown indoors. The greenhouses themselves can be film, glass or polycarbonate. Among other things, growing vegetable crops, Special attention pay attention to selecting them according to compatibility. This takes into account factors such as fertilizing and irrigation regimes, climatic conditions, the need for pollination, frequency of ventilation, etc.

Varieties and hybrids

IN farms and large agricultural enterprises mainly grow only varieties of agricultural crops included in the state register. The exception is experimental stations where breeding work is carried out. When breeding new varieties, the following methods can be used:

• selection with the consolidation of certain valuable characteristics;
• hybridization in breeding nurseries.

The resulting varieties and hybrids are tested and, if their value for agriculture is established, they are entered into the state register.

Growing crops, therefore, must be done on well-prepared soils, using suitable fertilizers and the best varieties of seeds. In the absence of violations of technology, even in the event of unfavorable weather conditions, you can obtain good harvests and at the same time avoid such negative consequences, like erosion and soil depletion.

The numerous family of cereals is the most famous representative of the monocot class.

The varied ratio of proteins, carbohydrates, enzymes and vitamins in cereals meets the needs of the human body and is valuable for animals. Basic food products such as flour and cereals are made from grain for people, and compound feed for animals.

Cereals are characterized by a number of common characteristics that distinguish them from other monocots.

Variety of cereals

Cereal crops are represented by two large groups.

The first includes types of cereals of the same family (the so-called true breads):

1. Wheat (including spelled - the ancestor of modern durum wheat varieties).
2. Rye.
3. Oats.
4. Barley.
5. Triticale (hybrid, intermediate form of rye and wheat).

The second group consists of grain crops (millet breads) of the cereal family:

1. Corn.
2. Millet.
3. Sorghum.

The varieties of the millet genus include:

• Chumiza (capitate millet, buda, black rice) is cultivated in China, in the Far East.
• Paisa (wild millet, barnyard grass, Japanese millet) is cultivated in the Far East, Asia, Australia, and southern Africa.
• Mogar (Italian millet, Italian foxtail) is grown in the North Caucasus, Ukraine, Asia, Australia, Africa, and North America.
• Dagussa (finger millet, Eleusina coracana) grows in the arid regions of Africa, Asia, and India.

Cereal crops can be distinguished into a separate group:

1. Quinoa (other names: quinoa, rice quinoa). An ancient cereal that replaced rice and bread for the Incas. Chenopodiaceae family.
2. Amaranth. It was used instead of wheat by the Aztecs and is still popular among the mountain tribes of China, Nepal, Pakistan, and India. Amaranth family.
3. Buckwheat. The lack of gluten makes it unsuitable for baking bread; it is used for flatbreads, pancakes and pancakes. Buckwheat family.

These crops are not part of the cereal family, but are similar to them in structure and nutritional value, and have a grain-shaped fruit.

The structure of cereals and cereals

Cereal crops are characterized by common morphological characteristics.

The root system is fibrous. Under favorable conditions, it goes 1.5-2 meters into the ground. The bulk of the roots are located in the top layer of soil, 25-30 cm from the surface. Cereal roots are divided into 3 types:

• primary;
• secondary (subordinate clauses);
• supporting (aerial) - found only in corn and sorghum.

The stem is a thin straw, divided by thickened partitions (stem nodes) along its entire length. The inner part of the stem of corn and sorghum is filled with parenchyma (pulp).

The leaf is linear in shape, the leaf blades are rolled.

The inflorescences have the form:

• Spike-shaped (with a jointed stem and spikelets): rye, wheat, triticale, barley.
• Paniculate (with a central axis and lateral branches with spikelets): oats, rice, millet, sorghum.
• Combination of panicle and cob: corn.

The flower consists of two types of scales:

lower (outer);

The flowers have different development: in the first group of grasses the lower ones are more developed, in the second group the upper ones are more developed.

Between the flowers there is an ovary (2 feathery stigmas and 3 stamens; rice has 6 stamens).

Grain structure

The fruits of cereals are grains with the following structure:

• 2 shells: fruit (outer) and seed (inner).
• Endosperm (mealy kernel), which contains protein and starch.
• An embryo containing sugars, nitrogenous substances, vitamins, fat, enzymes. Consists of 3 parts: bud, rudimentary root, scutellum - a conductor of nutrition for the embryo.

A distinctive feature of cereals of both groups is the structural features of the grain. In crops of the first group, a longitudinal groove runs along the abdominal part of the grain (wide in wheat, barley, oats; deep in rye), the top is crowned with a tuft (pubescence). The pappus is absent only in barley. The cereals of the second group have neither grooves nor pubescence.

The grain of each crop has a different shape. For cereals of the first group:

• ovoid (wheat);
• elongated, pointed towards the base (rye);
• elongated, very narrowed along the entire length (oats);
• elliptical, spindle-shaped (barley).

The surface of the grain is different:

• in wheat and barley - smooth;
• in rye - finely wrinkled;
• in oats it is pubescent.

In cereals of the second group (cereals), the grain form can be of two types:

• elongated oval (rice);
• round (corn, millet, sorghum): the corn kernel may have edges and a sharp point in the upper part; millet grain - pointed at the ends.

The color of grain is influenced by pigments (chlorophyll, carotenoids) that form color scheme: from white, gray and greenish to red and black.

Spring and winter crops

There are 2 forms of cereals:

• Winter crops.
• Spring

Spring crops are sown in the spring, they go through their full development cycle during the summer, and are harvested in the fall (later than winter crops).

Winter crops are sown in the fall. Before the beginning of winter, they manage to germinate, go to winter in the tillering phase and in a dormant state, and in the early spring of next year, continuing their life cycle, they actively develop stems and begin bearing fruit in mid-summer.

Winter varieties, using soil moisture reserves in the spring, produce not only an earlier, but also a more abundant harvest.

Compared to spring varieties, winter varieties have less drought resistance and require compliance with certain conditions when growing:

• high snow cover and mild winters;
• fertile soil.

Cereals come in both forms. Among them, winter rye has the greatest frost resistance.

Growing

Cereals are unpretentious, but still require some care. Under optimal conditions, grain yield and quality will be higher.

Cereals of the first group (true breads) have low heat requirements, but need moisture. These are long-day plants that develop quickly from germination to tillering.

There are 70 species found in nature, but only 11 have economic value. The most famous is oats, used for the production of cereals, oat coffee, oatmeal, flour for confectionery and pancakes.

In livestock farming, oats are used as a concentrated feed or an integral part of mixed feed.

Cereals give oats the lead in the production of dietary and baby food: oatmeal cookies, muesli, Hercules cereal. The nutritional value of oats is determined by the optimal content of proteins, starch, organic acids, fats and sugar, which are easily digestible, normalize metabolism, and protect the heart and circulatory system.

Corn

Among cultivated cereals, corn occupies a special place, since its structure is not similar either to representatives of real breads (the first group), or to its “brothers” from the second group, to which it directly belongs.

The stem is unusual: straight and powerful, capable of reaching 5 meters in height, equipped with aerial roots located on the lower above-ground nodes.

The leaf blade is wide, the leaves themselves are long, pubescent on top.

Corn is a monoecious plant, but dioecious, since it has 2 inflorescences: the cob consists of female flowers, the panicle at the top is made of male flowers.

Breeders have developed a huge number of varieties and hybrids, on which the shape and color of the grains, located on the cob in vertical rows, depend.

The homeland of corn is America (Central and South). The ancient Mayans considered it a sacred plant worthy of worship.

It appeared in Europe thanks to Columbus, who saw it for the first time on the island of Cuba.

The main composition of corn grain is starch (70%), protein (10%), fat (8%).

The uses of corn are varied: young cobs are boiled, the grains are frozen and canned, and ground into cereals and flour. Further processing turns the grains into breakfast cereals, popcorn and other treats.

In livestock farming, corn is considered a valuable feed crop.

Rice

The ancestor of modern rice was known in India over 15 thousand years ago. The main cultivation areas are the southern regions on flooded areas.

This high-calorie cereal is called the son of water and sun, the breadwinner of the East, the second bread of humanity, white gold. And this is quite justified, because it feeds more than half the population globe.

Rice grain consists of 75% starch, 8% protein; The rice shell is rich in vitamin B1.

Rice has a variety of uses: the grain is used to make cereals and flour, and rice straw is used to make high-quality writing paper, hats and mats.

Two dozen species and over a thousand varieties of rice are combined into 3 types according to their shape:

• Long grain - with long and thin grain. Has maximum transparency. The use of this type of rice is universal for oriental and universal cuisine: from salads to side dishes.
• Medium grain - with wide and short grains. Less transparent than long grain, with medium gluten content. The main purpose is paella, risotto, puddings.
• Round grain - with round grains. This type of rice is opaque and has a high starch content. Due to its increased stickiness, it is used for preparing porridges, puddings, casseroles, and sushi.

An interesting feature of rice is known: any variety has a different taste and color depending on its processing and cooking time.

Millet and sorghum

The origin of millet as an agricultural crop dates back to the 3rd millennium BC.

Archaeological excavations in Central Transnistria indicate that millet was cultivated by the ancient Scythians. It came to Europe from India, Mongolia and China. IN Ancient China millet stood on a par with other sacred plants: rice, wheat, barley, soybeans.

The cereal is heat-loving and drought-resistant. Millet grain is the smallest and hardest of all cereals, and its protein content is higher than that of wheat and barley.

The grain is used to make the cereal we know as millet, and the flour from which flatbreads and bread are baked. All parts of the cereal are used to feed livestock: grain, husks, straw, flour.

In cultivated agriculture, there is a grain that resembles millet. Sorghum has been used as a staple grain in the drylands of Africa for 5 millennia. Externally, this grain cereal is similar to millet; in terms of the chemical composition of the grain, it is similar to corn.

Cereals, flour, and starch are produced from sorghum grains, and wickerwork, paper, and brooms are made from straw. Green mass is used in silage.

In the southern regions of the country, where wheat for a long time - the main, leading crop; with proper agricultural technology, even higher yields are obtained. For example, the new winter wheat variety Bezostaya-4 gave an average yield of 40 centners per hectare on collective farm fields. And at the state farm named after. Kalinin, Korenevsky district, Krasnodar region, the same variety of winter wheat yielded 48.6 centners per hectare. On one of the fields of the state farm, with an area of ​​149 hectares, the harvest was even 54.5 centners per hectare. The yield of another new variety - Bezostaya-41 - in 1959 reached 50-60 centners per hectare in variety testing areas. In Siberia and Kazakhstan, on newly developed virgin and fallow lands, the sown area is mainly occupied by spring wheat, the yield of which in 1958 on a number of state farms exceeded 40 centners per hectare.

After wheat, the largest sown area in the USSR is occupied by rye. And throughout the world, its cultivated area is in fourth place - after wheat, rice and corn. To soil and climatic conditions rye less demanding than wheat. It also grows on sandy soils, and produces high yields on sandy soils. In addition, it is more frost-resistant: its crops have crossed the Arctic Circle and now reach 69° N. w. Compared to the pre-revolutionary period, wheat crops in the USSR decreased due to an increase in wheat crops. But in many parts of the country it remains the main food crop.

Among the rye varieties there are both winter and spring varieties. The main area under rye crops in the USSR is occupied by winter varieties, as they are more productive. The best precursor for winter rye is fertilized fallow.

In many regions of the European part of the USSR, winter rye yields in height and stability significantly exceed spring grain yields. For example, the leading collective farms of the Chuvash Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, Moscow, Kursk and other regions receive rye yields of 40 and 50 centners per hectare.

Black bread is made from rye grain. Rye straw is used in agriculture: it is used as bedding for livestock, and mats for greenhouses are knitted from it. Rye straw is also used in industry as a raw material for the production of paper and cardboard.

Winter rye is sometimes grown for spring feeding of productive cattle, since rye produces an abundance of high-quality green fodder earlier than other plants.

Oats grown mainly for livestock feed. But many food products are also produced from it: cereals, oatmeal, oatmeal (rolled oats).

Oat grains are very nutritious. The grain of filmy varieties contains up to 18% protein, about 6% fat and up to 40% starch. Hull oat grain contains up to 23% protein. Oatmeal is well absorbed by the animal's body and is especially useful for young animals. Oatmeal is a dietary product for children. Oat straw and chaff are used as livestock feed. Oat straw is more nutritious than other grain straws.

Most known species of oats grow among wild flora. The cultivated type of oats - the so-called seed oats - is divided into filmy varieties and naked varieties. There are a lot of varieties of oats, and each of them is adapted to certain soil and climatic conditions.

In the USSR, mainly filmy varieties are cultivated. They were bred by Soviet breeders by selecting from ancient local varieties.

Oats produce the highest yields in mild climates and sufficient precipitation. It is less demanding on soil than other grains; Therefore, as a rule, any crop rotation ends with sowing oats. Compared to other grains, oats are the least valuable crop. Therefore, the expansion of plantings of other grains, such as corn, should come primarily through a reduction in plantings of oats.

Occupies a significantly smaller cultivated area than wheat, rye or oats in the Soviet Union barley. It is used mainly for livestock feed, in the brewing industry and for making barley coffee. But there are countries, for example Tibet, where barley is the main grain plant, since other grains do not ripen there: of all grains, barley is the fastest ripening plant.

Cereals, the grain of which is used not for flour or for baking bread, but for making porridge, are called cereals. Highest value Among the cereal grains in the Soviet Union is millet. Cultivated millet is divided according to the shape of the panicle into three main groups: spreading - with long branches and a loose panicle structure, drooping - with long branches and tightly adjacent to each other, and compact - with short branches, very tightly adjacent to each other. Millet grains are covered with films and after they are dehulled (cleaned), food millet is obtained.

Among all cereals, millet is the most drought-resistant crop. Therefore, in the USSR it is most often sown in the southeastern regions of the country. With good care, millet yields reach 60 centners per hectare or more.

Millet produces the highest yields when sown over a layer of virgin soil or sown perennial grasses. Therefore, in farming practice, millet is considered a layer crop. Millet can also be cultivated on soft soils, but they must be free of weeds. Millet seedlings develop very slowly and therefore become heavily clogged with weeds on clogged soils. In addition to virgin soil and sown perennial grasses, row crops are a good predecessor for millet: potatoes and sugar beets. In turn, millet is considered a good predecessor for spring wheat, barley and oats. Millet is very responsive to phosphorus fertilizers.

The best sowing method is wide-row, since millet is a light-loving plant. The seed sowing rate for conventional row sowing is 20-25 kg per hectare, and for wide-row sowing it is half as much; the adaptability of the variety to soil and climatic conditions is also of great importance. Therefore, sowing with varietal and zoned seeds is a mandatory agrotechnical measure. In the USSR, millet sown areas are concentrated in the Kazakh SSR, the Volga region and the Central Black Earth zone. Millet ripens unevenly and falls off easily. Controlling grain losses during millet harvesting is of paramount importance.

For half the world's population, the main food is rice. Rice has the same importance as bread in Japan, China, India, Indonesia, Burma, and Vietnam. It began to be cultivated a very long time ago. In Southeast Asia, rice was known as a cultivated plant already 4-5 thousand years ago. Rice is grown in fields that are flooded with water. But rice is not a swamp plant, but a mountain plant. Its wild species grow, although in a humid climate, but on soil that is not flooded with water. In India, Burma and Vietnam, it was originally cultivated on gentle mountain slopes. Monsoons brought heavy rainfall to these mountains. But since the monsoons are a seasonal phenomenon, with such farming it was possible to harvest only one crop per year. To prevent rainfall from sweeping away the earth from the mountain slopes, stone and earthen ramparts began to be erected around the rice crops. This is how terraces were formed, and the water of monsoon showers lingered on them. For cultivated rice, such abundant moisture turned out to be beneficial. It began to produce large harvests, two or three harvests a year. In terms of productivity, irrigated rice surpasses even millet. Gradually, rice culture descended from the mountains into the valleys, where high-water rivers were used to irrigate crops. Where there are no large rivers, for example on the island of Java, rice is still cultivated on mountain terraces.

With constant flooding of rice fields, the beneficial activity of microorganisms in the soil fades. Therefore, it is better to use shortened flooding: after sowing, 3-4 waterings are carried out, and when the rice reaches waxy ripeness, the water is discharged from the field.

There are now more than 10 thousand varieties of cultivated rice. Soviet breeders developed varieties suitable for our climate. In our country, rice is cultivated in Central Asia, in Krasnodar region, in the south of Ukraine and in the Moldavian SSR. Rice grain is high in nutrients. About 75% of it consists of carbohydrates. Rice straw is a valuable raw material. Thin and durable paper, ropes, ropes, baskets, and hats are made from it.

If you create the best conditions for rice to grow and develop, you can reap an exceptionally high harvest. Until 1958, the largest rice yield was considered to be 170 quintals per hectare. Since 1958, in the People's Republic of China, experimental plots began to produce yields of over 1000 centners per hectare.

Our Chinese friends received such fabulous harvests as a result of thickening the crops, deep tillage of the soil and abundant application of mineral and organic fertilizers. Rice culture in China is a transplant crop. Previously, there were about a million rice plants per hectare of crops there; on a hectare of experimental plots there are tens of times more of them - due to transplantation from other plots. With such a sowing density, there is almost no free space between plants. Rice in a thickened area is just ripening on the root, and the area of ​​other areas is freed up for new planting. The grown and strengthened plants were transplanted to the experimental plot in deeply plowed and fertilized soil in several layers. They fertilized it with manure, silt, ground bones, leaves of bast crops, and chemical fertilizers.

But our Chinese friends receive high rice yields not only from experimental plots. For example, in five provinces - Jiangsu, Anhui, Hubei, Sichuan and Henan - an average rice yield of 375 centners per hectare was obtained in 1958.

Buckwheat grain chemical composition close to the cereal grain. Buckwheat is used to prepare cereals. Therefore, we consider buckwheat in the same section with cereals, although it belongs to the buckwheat family.

Buckwheat- an annual herbaceous plant with a strongly branched, reddish and ribbed, non-lodging stem, up to a meter high. It is cultivated in all temperate countries, but the first place in terms of the size of sown areas and gross grain harvest belongs to the Soviet Union.

Buckwheat has the greatest economic importance. The nutritional value of its grain is higher than that of cereal grains. Buckwheat grain contains a lot of iron and organic acids (citric and malic). Its protein and carbohydrates are well absorbed by the body. Buckwheat has good taste.

Buckwheat is the most important honey plant, but the honey it produces is dark. Buckwheat flowering begins from the lower inflorescences, moves to the upper ones and extends in time until harvesting, so the period of honey collection from buckwheat crops is quite long. Buckwheat also ripens unevenly, and ripe grains may fall off. Therefore, buckwheat harvesting usually begins when two-thirds of the grains on the plant have reached full ripeness.

Buckwheat is an early ripening crop. From its germination to ripening it takes from 65 to 80 days. In the southern regions of the USSR, if there is a sufficient amount of precipitation in the second half of summer, with good agricultural technology it can produce high yields even in stubble sowing, that is, in sowing after harvesting.

When sowing in spring, winter rye, wheat, potatoes, beets, and flax will be good predecessors for it. Buckwheat seedlings are sensitive to frost, and its seeds germinate well at a soil temperature of 12-13°.

Buckwheat roots dissolve substances containing phosphoric acid well. Therefore, it is advisable to apply less superphosphate to buckwheat, but cheaper phosphate rock (see article “Fertilizers and their use”). Then, at a rate of 5-6 centners per hectare, it can increase the grain yield by one and a half to two times. Fresh manure or exclusively nitrogen fertilizers cause strong growth of green mass in buckwheat to the detriment of grain formation. If you add nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium fertilizers to the soil, the yield of buckwheat increases sharply.

Buckwheat harvests have been low and unstable in the past. Currently, the leading collective farms of Ukraine, Tula, Moscow, Gorky and other regions receive buckwheat yields of 15-25 and even 30 centners per hectare.

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Cereal plants belong to the class of monocots. Among them there are herbaceous annuals and perennials, shrubs and trees. Cereals can be long-rhizome, stolon-forming or turfy.

The shoots of cereals are generative and vegetative, the stems are hollow, like straws, and the leaf blades are alternate, double-rowed, long and narrow, with parallel veins. Inflorescences are spike-shaped, paniculate, racemose or in the form of a spadix and consist of many elementary spikelet inflorescences. The flowers are small and pale, consisting of three stamens, one fruit, a short style and two feathery stigmas. The fruit is a grain - a seed fused with a shell.

Cereal cereal plants

Wheat

Wheat (lat. Triticum)– a genus of herbaceous, mainly annual plants of the Poaceae family. Wheat is the leading grain crop in most countries. Flour, which is produced from wheat, is used to bake bread, make pasta and confectionery. It is included in the recipes of some types of beer and vodka. Major wheat producer in modern world– China, followed respectively by the USA, France, Australia, Canada, Russia, Argentina, Germany, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Brazil.

Wheat has been in cultivation for about 10,000 years. Its origin can be traced to Asia Minor, North Africa and Southern Europe - it was there that three cereals grew, which, in all likelihood, are the ancestors of modern wheat. Since then, plants introduced into cultivation have changed their appearance under the influence of new conditions. For example, einkorn and spelled increased the size of the grains and lost the fragility of the ear after ripening, and those ears that were discovered in the tombs of the pharaohs are not much different from modern species. The most ancient type of wheat is spelled - the grain of this species is difficult to grind into flour, since flowering and spikelet scales grow to it. In total, there are 20 species of wheat and 10 hybrids - 3 intergeneric and 7 intraspecific.

Wheat is a herbaceous plant with a height of 30 to 150 cm with erect, hollow and leveled stems, flat linear or broadly linear leaves 15-20 cm wide, rough to the touch, glabrous or hairy. The general inflorescence is a straight, ovoid or oblong spike up to 15 cm long. Single sessile spikelets up to 17 cm long with closely spaced flowers are located on the axis of the spikes in longitudinal regular rows.

Three types of wheat are important for the economy:

• – ordinary, or summer, or soft wheat – Triticum aestivum. It is a wheat grown throughout the world and used to make baked goods. The most famous awnless varieties are Sandomirka, Girka, Kuyavskaya, Kostromka, and among the awned varieties the most popular are Saxonka, Samarka, Krasnokoloska, Belokoloska and others;
• – durum wheat – Triticum durum, a gluten-rich spring wheat grown for making pasta. All varieties of durum wheat are awned and spring - Kubanka, Beloturka, Krasnoturka, Chernokoloska, Garnovka;
• – dwarf or dense wheat – Triticum compactum, used for crumbly baked goods.

Types of wheat such as spelt (embellic wheat), spelled, emmer, Polish, English (or fat) are also grown in cultivation.

Wheat is cultivated in almost all climatic zones, with the exception of the tropics. All cultivated varieties are divided into winter varieties, which are sown in the fall and harvested in the summer, and spring varieties, which are sown in the spring - from March to May. Spring wheat requires at least 100 frost-free days to mature. Winter wheat is grown not only for grain, but also as feed for livestock, which is released to graze on the field when the seedlings reach a height of 13-20 cm.

Rye

Rye, or cultural rye (lat. Secale cereal) is a biennial or annual herbaceous plant. The species includes more than forty varieties. Rye is cultivated mainly in the Northern Hemisphere. About 40 varieties of crops are grown in the middle zone. Rye, like wheat, can be spring or winter. Modern rye varieties are thought to be descended from the perennial species Secale montanum, which still grows wild in southern Europe and central and southwestern Asia. In cultivation, rye became an annual plant. There is an assumption that eastern peoples began to cultivate rye, much later than wheat. The earliest remains of rye date back to the end of the Bronze Age and were found in Moravia. The most accurate indications about culture in Europe appeared in the first century AD - Pliny writes that at the foot of the Alps the Taurians cultivate rye and other cultivated plants, and the first mention of the cultivation of rye in Rus' can be read in the chronicles of Nestor, dating back to the 11th century.

Rye has a fibrous root system that goes 1-2 meters deep, so it can be sown even on sand. The stem of rye is hollow, straight, with 5-6 internodes, height from 70 to 200 cm, bare, pubescent only under the ears. The leaves are flat, broad-linear, bluish in color, like the stem. The length of the leaf plate is from 15 to 30 cm, width up to 2.5 cm. At the top of the stem an inflorescence is formed in the form of an elongated drooping complex spike with an axis that does not break into segments from 5 to 15 cm in length and up to 12 mm in width. The spike consists of a tetrahedral shaft and flat two-flowered spikelets. Rye flowers have three stamens with elongated anthers, the ovary is superior, and they are pollinated by the wind. The rye grain has an oblong, somewhat laterally compressed shape with a deep groove in the middle. inside. The greenish, white, yellow, gray or dark brown grain reaches a length of 5 to 10 mm and a width of 1.5 to 3.5 mm.

Today, winter rye is predominantly sown, and this crop is more winter-hardy than any other cultivated cereals. Rye is not particularly sensitive to soil acidity, but it grows best in soil with a pH of 5.3-6.5. And it is not as demanding on other growing conditions as wheat - rye grows well not only in sand, but also on podzolic soils unsuitable for wheat. The best soil for rye is chernozems and gray forest soils of medium and light loam. Clayey, waterlogged or saline soils are unsuitable for growing rye. Winter rye is sown after flax, corn and leguminous crops, and in areas with a harsh or arid climate - in clean fallows. The most popular winter rye varieties include mid-season Voskhod 2, Vyatka 2, Chulpan, Saratovskaya 5, as well as short-stemmed, disease-resistant varieties Purga, Korotkostelbnaya 69, Bezenchukskaya 87, Dymka and others.

Rye is a grain crop from which flour is produced, kvass is made, and starch is produced. Rye is used to produce alcohol. Grown as green manure, rye successfully suppresses weeds, structures loamy soil, making it more moisture- and breathable and lighter. Fresh rye stalks can be used as fodder.

In the world, rye is cultivated most of all in Germany, Poland, Ukraine, Scandinavian countries, Russia, China, Belarus, Canada and the USA.

Corn

Sweet corn, or maize (lat. Zea mays) is an annual herbaceous plant, the only cultivated representative of the corn genus. In addition to sweet corn, the genus includes four more wild species and three subspecies. There is an assumption that corn is the most ancient representative of cereals, introduced into culture 7-12 thousand years ago in Mexico, and at that time corn cobs reached only 3-4 cm in length. There is irrefutable evidence that maize was cultivated as a crop 8,700 years ago in the center of the Balsas Valley.

The role of corn cannot be overestimated: the emergence and flourishing of all Mesoamerican civilizations (Olmecs, Mayans, Aztecs) became possible thanks to cultivated corn, since it formed the basis of highly productive agriculture. Proof of the importance of this cereal for the American Indians is the fact that one of the central gods of the Aztecs was the corn god Centeotl (Shilonen). Before the Conquest, corn had spread to both the south and north of America, and Spanish sailors brought it to Europe, where it quickly gained popularity in the Mediterranean countries. Corn came to Russia through Ukraine and the Caucasus, but it did not gain recognition immediately, but only when in the middle of the 19th century a decree was issued on the free distribution of corn seeds to the peasantry.

Corn has a developed fibrous root system, penetrating to a depth of 1-1.5 m, an erect stem reaching a height of 4 m, and a diameter of 7 cm, not hollow inside, like most cereals. The leaves are linear-lanceolate, up to 10 cm wide and up to 1 m long. On one plant there can be from 8 to 42. Flowers are unisexual: male - apical, in large panicles, female - in axillary cobs from 4 to 50 cm long and in diameter from 2 to 10 cm. Usually no more than 2 ears are formed on one plant. The crop is pollinated by the wind. Corn fruits are cubic or rounded kernels that form and ripen on the cob. They are pressed tightly against each other and, depending on the variety and variety, are yellow, reddish, purple, blue and even black in color. The growing season of corn is from 90 to 150 days. Corn is heat-loving and needs good lighting.

The cultivated type of corn is divided into nine botanical groups, which differ in the structure of the grain: dentate, semi-dentate, popping, sugar, mealy or starchy, starchy-sugar, waxy and filmy.

Corn is the second most sold grain crop in the world after wheat. The top seller is the United States, followed by countries such as China, Brazil, Mexico, Indonesia, India, France, Argentina, South Africa, Russia, Ukraine and Canada. Corn is grown as a valuable food and feed product, and it is also used as a raw material for medicines. Since 1997, genetically modified corn has been grown commercially and is becoming increasingly popular around the world.

Rice

Rice (lat. Oryza) is a cereal crop, an annual herbaceous plant of the Cereals family. It is very demanding on growing conditions, but despite this it is the main agricultural crop in many Asian countries, even ahead of wheat. Rice is sometimes called Saracen grain or Saracen wheat. Rice was introduced into culture about 9,000 years ago in East Asia, then it spread to South Asia, where it was fully domesticated. The ancestor of rice is, in all likelihood, the wild species Oryza nivara. In Africa, bare rice (Oryza glaberrima) is cultivated, which was domesticated on the banks of the Nile two or three thousand years ago, but in Lately it is being replaced as an agricultural crop by Asian species and is used mainly in rituals. Africans also grow such types of rice as dotted rice (Oryza punctata) and short-tongued rice (Oryza barthii).

The stems of rice reach a height of one and a half meters, its leaves are wide, rough around the edges, and dark green. At the top of the stem, a paniculate inflorescence is formed from spikelets, each of which contains four awned or awnless scales that cover the flower. A rice flower has 6 stamens and a pistil with two stigmas. The grains are covered with scales.

Rice (Oryza sativa) grown in the tropics and subtropics of America, Asia, Africa and Australia, as well as in warm temperate regions. To protect from direct sunlight, rice fields are flooded with water before the grains ripen, which also protects the crop from weeds. The fields are drained only before harvesting.

Rice grains are high in carbohydrates and contain very little protein. In China and Southeast Asian countries, this crop is the main national product. Starch and cereals are produced from rice, and oil is obtained from the germ. Rice flour is not suitable for making bread, but porridge is cooked from it and pies are baked. And with cereals they cook soups, prepare main courses and use them as a side dish. Rice dishes such as pilaf, risotto and paella have become widely popular, and in Japan rice cakes and sweets are baked from rice for the tea ceremony. In Asia, Africa and America, rice is also used to obtain alcohol and make alcoholic beverages. Rice straw is used to produce paper, cardboard and wickerwork. Rice bran and chaff are fed to livestock and poultry.

The main varieties of rice are:

• – long-grain rice, the length of the grains is 6 mm. This rice remains fluffy after cooking;
• – medium rice – the length of the grains is about 5 mm, and depending on the color and manufacturer, they may stick together after cooking;
• – short-grain rice – the length of the grains that stick together during cooking is 4-5 mm.

According to the type of mechanical processing after harvesting, rice is divided into:

• – unhusked or unhusked rice;
• – brown, or cargo – rice of a characteristic beige hue, with a nutty aroma;
• – white, or unpolished – the same brown rice, but without the top layer;
• – polished – white rice, peeled and polished, and in some countries also enriched with microelements and vitamins;
• – glazed – polished rice coated with a layer of talcum powder with glucose;
• – parboiled – unhusked rice, washed and soaked in hot water, then treated with low pressure steam, polished and bleached;
• – Camolino – polished rice coated with a thin layer of oil;
• - puffed - rice fried on hot sand or processed with heat, first at high and then at low pressure;
• – wild – a very expensive product, which is not rice, but grain of marsh grass. It is mixed with brown rice for sale.

Elite rice varieties include Indian Basmati, Thai Jasmine and Italian Arborio.

Oats

Oats (lat. Avena sativa), or fodder oats, or common oats is an annual herbaceous plant widely used in agriculture. This is a crop that is unpretentious to growing conditions and can be successfully cultivated even in the northern regions. Oats are native to Mongolia and the northeastern provinces of China; they were introduced into culture in the second millennium BC. It is interesting that at first they fought with it because it contaminated spelled crops, but over time, when its excellent feeding properties became known, cold-resistant oats replaced spelled. In Europe, the first traces of oats were discovered in Bronze Age settlements in Denmark, Switzerland and France. Pliny the Elder wrote that the Germanic tribes grew oats and ate them, for which the ancient Greeks and Romans despised the barbarians, believing that oats were only suitable for livestock feed. Dioscorides used oats in medical practice. Since the 8th century AD. and for many centuries in Great Britain and Scotland oatcakes were a staple food, as this was the only crop capable of producing good crops in cold climates. And in the 17th century, German brewers learned to brew white beer from oats. For centuries, oats and oatmeal (oatmeal) fed the people of Rus'. And oats, along with other grain crops, were brought to America by the Scots, who sowed them on the islands near Massachusetts, from where they soon spread throughout all states, first as a fodder crop, but then they began to use it for making porridges, puddings and baked goods.

The height of oat stems with a diameter of 3-6 cm with several bare nodes reaches from 50 to 170 cm. The roots of the plant are fibrous, the leaves are alternate, linear, green or bluish, vaginal, with a rough surface, from 20 to 45 long and up to 3 cm wide Small flowers, collected several times in spikelets and forming a one-sided or spreading panicle up to 25 cm long, bloom in June-August. The fruit of oats is a grain. The composition of oat grains includes starch, proteins, fats, fiber, B vitamins, alkaloids, choline, organic acids, manganese, zinc, cobalt and iron.

The main suppliers of oats in the world are Russia, Canada, Australia, Poland, the USA and Spain. Oats can be hulled or filmy. Hulless oats require moisture and are not very common, while film oats occupy large sown areas. Oats are not as picky about soil as other cereal plants. The best predecessors for oats are row crops - corn and potatoes, as well as flax, legumes and melons. The most popular grain is oats white, black grain is slightly less valuable, and red and gray grain are grown for fodder. The most cultivated oat varieties are Krechet, Talisman, Gunter, Dance, Lgovsky 1026, Astor and Narymsky 943.

Barley

Sowing barley, or ordinary (lat. Hordeum vulgare) is an important crop domesticated in the Middle East about 17 thousand years ago. The ancient Palestinians, the ancient Jews, and all their neighbors sowed it in significant quantities. Barley flour was the subject of sacrifice, and bread made from barley, although coarser and heavier than wheat, was considered a healthier food. Barley came to Europe from Asia Minor 3-4 millennia BC, and in the Middle Ages it was grown in all countries of this part of the world. But for America, this crop is relatively new, since barley was brought to the New World in the 16th-18th centuries.

Barley is an annual herbaceous plant up to 90 cm high, with straight bare stems, flat, smooth leaves up to 30 cm long and up to 3 cm wide with ears at the base of the leaf blade. Barley forms a spike up to 10 cm long with an awn, and each four-hexagonal spikelet is single-flowered. Barley is a self-pollinating plant, but cross-pollination is also possible. The fruit of barley is a grain. The composition of grains includes proteins, carbohydrates, fats, fiber, ash, fatty oil, vitamins D, E, A, K, C, B, sodium, iodine, phosphorus, magnesium, zinc, selenium, iron, copper, calcium, bromine and enzymes.

Today, barley is grown not only as a fodder and industrial crop, but also as a food crop, for the production of pearl barley and barley groats and flour, as well as beer, which is the oldest drink of the Neolithic era. Barley is cultivated on an industrial scale in some countries of Western Europe, Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, the USA, Canada, China, India and the countries of Asia Minor, and in Tibet this cereal is the main food. Winter barley is not like that ancient culture, like spring barley, but currently countries such as Romania and Bulgaria have completely switched to growing winter barley; a lot of winter barley is sown in Germany, France, Poland and Hungary. The most popular barley varieties are Sebastian, Duncan, Talbot, Vodograi, Helios, Stalker, Vakula, and among the new varieties, the Ukrainian selection products Avgiy, Yucatan, Psel and Soncedar have proven themselves to be excellent.

Millet

Millet (lat. Panicum) is a genus of annual and perennial herbaceous plants of the Poaceae family. Representatives of the genus are distinguished by their unpretentiousness to growing conditions and tolerate heat and dry soil well. About 450 species of millet grow in the nature of Africa, America, Europe and Asia, but the most valuable species is the common millet (Panicum milliaceum), an annual plant native to Southeast Asia. The Mongols, residents of Manchuria and southeastern Kazakhstan cultivated this cereal from time immemorial, and millet came to Europe along with the army of Genghis Khan. Millet was also cultivated in India, back in the first millennium BC, and from there the culture was brought to Iran and the Caucasus. In the Bronze Age, thanks to Greek traders, millet appeared in Europe - in Hungary, Switzerland, southern Italy and Sicily. Millet was grown by the Celts, Scythians, Sarmatians and Gauls. In the 19th century, Ukrainian settlers brought millet to Western Canada and North America.

Hollow, slightly pubescent, cylindrical stems of millet, consisting of 8-10 internodes and forming a bush, reach a height of 50 to 150 cm. The root of the plant is fibrous, penetrating into the soil up to one and a half meters or more; the root system can grow up to a meter in width and more. The leaves of millet are alternate, glabrous or pubescent, linear-lanceolate, green or slightly reddish, reaching a length of 18 to 65 cm and a width of 1.5 to 4 cm. Two-flowered spikelets 3 to 6 cm long are collected in a paniculate inflorescence from 10 to 60 cm. The fruit of the plant is a round, oval or elongated grain with a diameter of 1-2 mm. The color of the fruit, depending on the variety, can be yellow, white, brown or red.

The composition of millet grains includes proteins, fat, starch, carotene, copper, manganese, nickel, zinc, vitamins B1, B2, PP. Millet contains practically no gluten, so it is included in the diet for people suffering from celiac disease. The grain is used to produce millet, which is used to make soups and porridges, and also as feed for poultry.

Millet is grown on any soil, even saline soil. The plant does not tolerate only high acidity. The crop is grown in large volumes in countries such as Ukraine, Russia, India, and the countries of the Middle East. In the USA, millet is cultivated as a dietary product or for poultry feed. The most common millet varieties include Saratovskoe 853, Veselopodolyanskoe 367, Kazanskoe 506, Dolinskoe 86, Skorospeloe 66, Omskoe 9, Orenburgskoe 42, Kharkovskoe 25.

There are also ornamental species and varieties of crops that are widely grown in horticulture:

• – a type of hairy millet, the panicles of which are used to make dry bouquets;
• – type of switchgrass, varieties Blue Tower, Cloud Nine, Heavy Metal, Prairie Sky, Red Cloud, Strictum and others.

Ornamental cereal plants

Bamboo

Common bamboo (lat. Bambusa vulgaris)– a herbaceous plant, a species of the genus Bamboo. In total, the genus includes about 130 species of evergreen plants growing in humid areas of the tropics and subtropics of Asia, the Americas, Africa and Australia. Common bamboo is the most recognizable of all species of this genus. The homeland of common bamboo is unknown, but it is grown in Madagascar, in the tropics of Africa and throughout East, South and Southeast Asia. This species is also common in Pakistan, Tanzania, Brazil, Puerto Rico and the USA. Since the beginning of the 18th century, bamboo has become a popular greenhouse plant in Europe.

Bamboo is a deciduous plant. It has bright yellow, stiff stems with thick walls and green stripes and dark green, pubescent, spear-shaped leaves growing at the top of the stem. The height of the plant reaches 10-20 m, and the thickness of the stem can be from 4 to 10 cm. The nodes on the stems are swollen, the length of the knees is from 20 to 45 cm. Bamboo rarely blooms, but once every few decades the entire bamboo population blooms simultaneously. The plant also does not produce seeds, and fruits are formed very rarely. Bamboo is propagated by vegetative methods - cuttings, layering, shoots, division of rhizomes. The composition of bamboo stems includes cellulose, fats, proteins, calcium, phosphorus, iron, vitamin C, lignin, ash and silica.

Bamboo stems are used as fuel, building material and raw materials for making furniture, fishing rods, tool handles, smoking pipes and flutes, and bamboo leaves are used to feed livestock. Bamboo is also grown as an ornamental plant, planted as a hedge. Young bamboo shoots are eaten boiled and preserved.

There are three varieties of common bamboo - green-trunked, golden-trunked or yellow-trunked and Bambusa vulgaris var. Wamin. The most interesting varieties of decorative bamboo are:

• – aureovariegata – bamboo with golden stems with thin green stripes;
• – striata – a compact variety with bright yellow constrictions between the knees and light green and dark green stripes;
• – vittata – a variety with stems with small stripes resembling a barcode;
• – maculata – a plant with green stems speckled with black, the stems of which turn completely black with age.

Cane

Reed (lat. Phragmites)- a genus of perennial herbaceous plants, the most famous species of which is the common reed (Phragmites australis), growing in Europe, Asia, North Africa and the Americas around lakes, swamps, ponds and along river banks. This moisture-loving plant can be found on isolated islands and in desert places, and this is a sure sign that the groundwater is shallow in this place.

Reed is a perennial coastal plant that develops powerful, thick and branched underground rhizomes up to 2 m long. Bamboo stems are straight, flexible, hollow, smooth, bluish-green, up to 1 cm thick. In addition to stems, reed forms creeping shoots. The leaves of the reed are dense, hard, long and narrow, linear or lanceolate-linear, tapering towards the ends and rough at the edges. The leaf width is from 5 to 25 cm, the color is gray or dark green. The peculiarity of reed leaves is that they always turn their edges towards the wind. The reed stem is crowned with a spreading, thick drooping panicle of purple, yellowish or dark brown spikelets, each of which has 3-7 flowers - the lower one is male, and the upper ones are bisexual. Reed blooms from July to September. The fruit is an oblong grain.

Before flowering, young cane contains extractives, protein, fat, carotene, cellulose and vitamin C. The leaves of the plant contain vitamins, phytoncides and carotene. The rhizomes contain a lot of starch and fiber. Reed shoots are used to make paper, baskets, mats, and reeds are obtained from pressed reeds - an excellent building material. Musical instruments are made from the stems of the plant - clarinets, pipes and pipes for flutes. Reed is also used for silage.

Sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum), or noble cane also a cereal plant, but belongs to the Millet subfamily. This plant, along with sugar beets, is used to produce sugar. Plants of this genus originate from the southwestern part of the Pacific region. In wild form, they are found in tropical areas of the Middle East, North Africa, China, India, Taiwan, New Guinea and Malaysia. Sugarcane is a very ancient crop and its name is found in Sanskrit documents. The Chinese refined sugar from cane already in the 8th century AD. e., in the 9th century the crop was grown along the shores of the Persian Gulf, in the 12th century the Arabs brought reed to Egypt, Malta and Sicily, in the 15th century it grew in the Canary Islands and Madeira, in 1492 it was transported to the Antilles, and in Saint-Domingue they began to grow it in large quantities, since by that time sugar had already become a necessary product. A little later, sugar cane reached the borders of Brazil, and then Mexico, Guiana and the islands of Martinique and Mauritius. It was difficult to grow sugar in Europe due to climatic conditions; it was cheaper to bring it from tropical countries, and since sugar began to be produced from beets, the volume of cane sugar imports has decreased significantly. Today, the main sugarcane plantations are in India, Indonesia, the Philippines and Cuba, Argentina and Brazil.

Sugar cane is a fast-growing perennial up to 6 m high. Its rhizome is short-jointed. Numerous dense, bare, knotty cylindrical stems with a diameter of up to 5 cm are colored yellow, green or purple. Reed leaves, 60 to 150 long and 4-5 cm wide, resemble corn leaves. The stem ends in a pyramidal paniculate inflorescence from 30 to 60 cm long, consisting of small, pubescent single-colored ears, collected in pairs.

To obtain sugar from cane, its stems are cut before flowering begins and, placed under metal shafts, the juice is squeezed out of them, to which freshly slaked lime is added, heated to 70 ºC, then filtered and evaporated until crystals appear. The share of sugar cane in world sugar production is 65%. The countries that produce the most cane sugar are Brazil, India, China, Thailand, Pakistan, Mexico, the Philippines, the USA, Australia, Argentina and Indonesia.

Miscanthus

Miscanthus (lat. Miscanthus), or fan- a genus of herbaceous plants of the Poataceae family, the name of which is formed from two Greek words meaning “petiole, stem” and “flower”. Miscanthus is widespread in the subtropics and tropics of Africa, Asia and Australia. These are undemanding plants that will do well in any soil except heavy clay. Miscanthuses are not bothered by waterlogged soils; they survive in dry places, although they do not grow as much.

Miscanthus is a plant with a height of 80 to 200 cm, forming large loose turfs with creeping rhizomes. The stems of miscanthus are erect, the leaves are scale-like, leathery, with hard linear or lanceolate-linear leaf blades up to 2 cm wide. Picturesque fan-shaped panicles with long lateral branches and a very short awn reach a length of 10-30 cm.

Miscanthus is very popular in gardening. They decorate the banks of reservoirs and are planted in rockeries and mixborders. All types of miscanthus are distinguished by a long period of decorativeness; they are attractive even in autumn, when their leaves turn different shades of yellow, burgundy and brown colors. Paniculate inflorescences of miscanthus are included in dry bouquets and compositions. The plant is also used as bioenergy fuel.

The genus includes about forty species, but most often grown in culture:

• – giant miscanthus – a powerful plant used as a screen or accent in the background;
• – Chinese miscanthus, or Chinese reed, is a winter-hardy plant, the best varieties of which are Blondeau, Flamingo, Morning Light, Nirron, Strictus, Variegatus and Zebrinus;
• – miscanthus sugarflower – a plant with white or pinkish-silver panicles. Also popular is the Robustus variety of miscanthus, a larger plant than the main species.

Amaranth

Amaranth (lat. Amaranthus), or amaranth, velvet, fox (cat's) tail, cockscombs, axamitnik - a genus of herbaceous annuals widespread in cultivation. The name of the genus is translated from Greek as “unfading.” The plant originates from South America, where most of the species of the genus still grow in nature. For eight thousand years, amaranth was one of the main food crops of the natives of South and Central America, along with corn and beans. From there, amaranth was transported to North America, as well as to India, Pakistan, Nepal and China. From the amaranth seeds brought to Europe by the Spaniards, they first began to grow ornamental plants, but since the 18th century, interest in amaranth arose as a cereal and fodder crop.

The stems of amaranth are simple, the leaves are entire, diamond-shaped, ovoid or lanceolate in shape, alternate, with a sharp apex, and at the base smoothly turning into a petiole. The flowers are arranged in bunches in the axils or formed on the tops of the stems in the form of spike-shaped panicles. The fruit of amaranth is a capsule with grains. All parts of the plant are colored either green or purple-red.

Young or dried amaranth leaves are used for preparing hot dishes or for salads. The grain of the plant is a valuable feed for poultry, and the greens are for cattle. Shchiritsa silage has a pleasant apple smell.

Four types of amaranth are grown as ornamental plants:

• – paniculate amaranth, or crimson amaranth, is a brownish-red plant, the best varieties of which are Roter Dam, Roter Paris, Zvergfakel, Hot Biscuits, Grune Fakel;
• – sad or dark amaranth. The best varieties are Green Tam, Pidzhmi Torch;
• - caudate amaranth, having several decorative varieties. The most famous varieties are Grunschwanz and Rotschwanz;
• – tricolor amaranth is an ornamental foliage plant. The best varieties are Aurora, Early Splendor, Illumination.

Dried amaranth inflorescences can retain their shape and color for several months.

Amaranths prefer light, nutritious, calcareous soils. Waterlogged, acidic soil is not suitable for them.

Feather grass

Feather grass (lat. Stipa)- a genus of monocotyledonous herbaceous perennials, the name of which is translated from Greek as “tow.” In nature, there are more than 300 species of feather grass, which are predominantly semi-steppe or steppe plants. Feather grass is not a valuable forage crop; on the contrary, it is considered a weed and a harmful plant: in the second half of summer, on grassy pastures, the plant's awns dig into the skin of animals and cause inflammatory processes in it.

The rhizome of the feather grass is short, and a large bunch of hard, wire-like leaves grows from it. Sometimes the leaves are collected in a tube. The spikelets forming the inflorescences contain one flower each. The fruit of feather grass is a grain.

The most famous types of feather grass are feathery, hairy (or hairy, or Tyrsa), beautiful, giant, Zalessky, pebble, Caucasian, hairy, Clemenza, Lessing, magnificent, Siberian and narrow-leaved.

Some varieties of beautiful feather grass, pinnate and narrow-leaved, have been introduced into cultivation for growing in rock gardens and making dry bouquets. Such Central Asian species of feather grass as mastlifica, longiplutnosa, lipskyi and lingua attract the attention of gardeners and landscape designers. And the esparto feather grass, or Stipa tenacissima, serves as raw material for artificial silk and paper.

Canary

Canary plant (lat. Phalaris)- a genus of herbaceous cereal plants, which includes about 20 species, distributed in all parts of the world except Antarctica. These herbs grow in both dry areas and swamps.

The seemingly harmless but dangerous herb received its scientific name in honor of the mythological hero Phalaris, whom the inhabitants elected king and entrusted to him with the temple of Zeus in Agrigentum. Phalaris, taking advantage of the trust of the townspeople, turned into a bloodthirsty despot who promoted cannibalism, devoured babies and roasted enemies in a bronze bull, as if in a brazier. The inhabitants rebelled against Phalaris, and he suffered the same fate as his enemies - he was roasted in a bull.

Only one species of the genus is grown in culture - perennial reed grass (Phalaris arundinacea), or silk grass. This plant reaches a height of one meter, it has narrow long striped leaves and inconspicuous small spike-shaped apical inflorescences. The rhizome of the dvukistochnik is creeping, located horizontally in the soil. At a distance of 1.5-2 m, fibrous roots develop on the rhizome, from which turf of silk grass grows. This species has several variegated varieties, differing in the intensity of the contrast of stripes of white-pink, light yellow or white on a green background.

Other types of canary grass have green and unattractive leaves. In addition, species that live in wet grasslands are invasive, and some of them contain the alkaloid gramine, which can attack the nervous system of grazing sheep.

Properties of cereal plants

The fruits of cereal crops are pseudomonocarps, that is, grains, the membranous pericarp of which adheres tightly to the seed, and sometimes sticks to the spermoderm. Cereal grains contain a lot of starch and protein, and the grains of some plants contain coumarins and essential oils.

Cereals are the oldest cultivated plants, from which essential products are produced - flour, cereals, sugar, livestock feed, as well as building materials and fibers, and wild cereals are used as livestock feed.

Cereals - growing features

When growing cereals, it is necessary to observe crop rotation and correct sowing dates. Winter subspecies of cereals are sown at the end of summer or early autumn, trying to do so before the onset of persistent frosts. In order to begin to grow and develop, winter grains need low temperatures - from 0 to 10 ºC. Spring grains go through the first stages of development at temperatures from 10-12 to 20 ºC, which is why they are sown in the spring. Winter varieties of cereals are considered more productive because they make better use of nutrients, as well as winter and spring moisture reserves. Winter varieties are sown after early-harvested crops, for example, after legumes, as well as in clean fallows. It is better to sow spring crops after row crops, winter crops, leguminous crops and perennial grasses.

The main application of fertilizer is carried out in the fall, before autumn tillage: granular nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers are applied to the rows during sowing. In spring, cereals also need nitrogen or nitrogen-phosphorus fertilizing.

Ornamental grasses, of which there are about 200 species, are grown on alpine hills, in rockeries, they frame flower beds, ponds, and plant large spaces. They are sown mainly in open sunny areas, although they also grow in partial shade. The main advantage of ornamental grasses is that they are able to decorate the site both in summer and winter. Perennials are propagated vegetatively - by dividing bushes, although the seed method is also quite applicable. Cereals are almost not affected by pests; only aphids and mites - sucking insects - can cause them trouble, which can be eliminated with the help of acaricidal preparations. Spring care of ornamental perennial grasses consists primarily of trimming dried stems, and you need to work with gloves, since the leaves of the grasses are hard and sharp. To prevent plants from scattering their seeds throughout the area, it is advisable to remove the shoots in advance.

Cereal crops structure and development

GRAIN CROPS

Cereal crops are grown to produce grain, which is used to prepare the most important human food products - bread, cereals and various confectionery products, and also as concentrated raw materials for light industry. Grain is used to feed animals in its pure form and in various feed mixtures. Starch, alcohols, amino acids are produced from grains, medicines and other products. By-products - straw and chaff - are used for feed and as bedding for livestock. Many grain crops are grown to produce green fodder, hay, silage, and haylage.

Cereals are divided into cereals and grain legumes. For the former, grains are called fruits - caryopsis, and for the latter - seeds. The main share in grain production falls on grain crops. These include wheat, rye, triticale, barley, oats, corn, sorghum, rice, millet, and buckwheat. Usually only this group of crops is called grain crops, so in the future we will call them that. The grain of barley, oats, corn, and sorghum is used mainly for livestock feed, so these crops are usually called grain feed crops. Cereals are mainly produced from grains of rice, millet and buckwheat; these crops are called cereal crops.

By morphological characteristics(by structure and shape) and biological characteristics, grain crops are divided as follows:

breads of the first group (typical breads) - wheat, rye, barley, oats and triticale;

breads of the second group (millet breads) - corn, millet, sorghum, rice, buckwheat;

leguminous crops - peas, beans, soybeans, beans, lentils, chickpeas, chickpeas, lupine.

Structure and development of grain crops

According to modern terminology, grain crops belong to the Poa family, not the cereal family. However, as is also customary, they are also called cereals. But one grain crop is not a member of the bluegrass family, but belongs to the buckwheat family - buckwheat.

The structure of the most important organs (roots, stems, leaves, inflorescences) of cereals is very similar.

Root system in cereals it is fibrous. When a grain germinates, it first forms embryonic, or primary, roots. Then, secondary roots develop from the underground stem nodes, which, in the presence of moisture, begin to grow rapidly. Primary roots do not die off, but play a major role in supplying plants with water and food. The roots of cereals penetrate the soil to a depth of 100 - 120 cm and spread up to 100 cm wide, but their predominant mass is located at a depth of 20 - 25 cm. In corn and sorghum, supporting, or aerial, roots develop from the above-ground nodes closest to the surface.

Cereal stalk - straw, consisting of 5...6 internodes. The number of internodes is equal to the number of leaves. The stem grows with all internodes. The lower internode begins to grow first, then the subsequent ones. The upper internode is longer than the lower one.

The culm of most cereals is hollow, and only in corn and durum wheat is it filled with spongy tissue. The lower part of the stem with stem nodes is immersed in the soil. From them secondary stems and roots develop - this part is called tillering node (Fig. 34). Damage to the tillering node leads to the death of the plant.

Leaves cereals linear (wheat, rye, oats, triticale and rice), medium (barley) or wide corn, sorghum, millet). There are embryonic, basal (rosette) and stem leaves.

The leaf consists of a leaf blade and a sheath covering the stem (Fig. 35). At the junction of the vagina and the leaf blade there is a membranous formation - the tongue.

Inflorescence wheat, rye, barley, triticale have a complex ear (Fig. 36); oats, millet, sorghum, rice have a panicle; in corn, on one plant a panicle with male flowers (sultans) and an ear with female flowers are formed (Fig. 37, a, b).

The flowers of cereals are small, usually greenish, and have two flower scales - an external one, which turns into an awn in spinous forms, and an internal one. Inside the flower, between its scales, there is a pistil, consisting of an ovary with two feathery stigmas, and three stamens. The flowers of all breads are bisexual. The number of flowers in a spikelet varies.

Ear consists of a rod, on the ledges of which spikelets are formed alternately on both sides. The panicle has branches of the first, second and third order, at the ends of which there are also spikelets.

The fruit of cereals is a single-seeded kernel, which is called grain. Dairy breads (oats, barley, millet, sorghum, rice) have grains covered with scales.

The outside of the wheat grain is covered with a seed coat, under which there is mealy tissue - endosperm, which serves to nourish the plant during germination (Fig. 38). The endosperm contains up to 80% carbohydrates and up to 22% protein by weight of the grain. The most valuable part of grain - protein - determines the nutritional and feed value of cereals.

Under the seed coat, in the lower left corner of the grain, there is an embryonic bud and an embryonic root.

Dry grains do not lose their germination even after immersion in liquid hydrogen, i.e. they tolerate cooling down to -250 °C. Sprouting grain cannot withstand cooling down to -3... -5 °C. As for the ability of seeds to tolerate dehydration, they remain viable even when they lose almost all their water. During the period of active growth, grain crops are very sensitive to water loss and die with significantly less dehydration.

Phases of cereal vegetation. The period from the beginning of the emergence of seedlings to the ripening of seeds is called the growing season. During this time, plants go through certain phases of growth and development, expressed in external morphological changes.

In the development of cereals, the following growth phases are noted: germination, tillering, booting, heading, flowering and ripening - milky, waxy and full ripeness (Fig. 39).

Plant development begins with the phase shoots- seed germination. In the breads of the first group, germination begins at a soil temperature of 1... 2 °C, in the breads of the second group - at 8... 10 °C. Seed germination is accompanied by water absorption, swelling, and the appearance of primary roots and embryonic stems. In cereal grain crops, a coleoptile (from the gr. koleos - sheath + prilon - feather) appears above the soil surface - the first embryonic leaf, like a case, protecting the seedling bud and the first to pierce the soil. The appearance of the first green leaves is the development of the seedling phase.

Tillering phase - the appearance of the first lateral shoots - leaves and nodal roots - hypocotyls (from the gr. hupo - below, below, under + kotyle - depression, depression) - subcotyledonous knees - parts of the stems in the embryo or seedling between the root and the first leaves (cotyledons).

Tube exit phase characterized by the beginning of intensive growth of the stem and the appearance of the first stem node above the soil surface, which is called epicotyl (from the gr. epi - on, above, over + kotyle - depression, depression) - epicotyledon - part of the stem in the embryo or in the seedling, located between the cotyledons and the first leaves.

Heading phase (in plants with an inflorescence of spikelets) or sweeping(in plants with an inflorescence of panicles) occurs with the appearance of inflorescences on the tops of the stems.

Flowering phase is marked by the release of pollen from the anthers.

In oats and barley, flowering can occur before the inflorescence fully appears. During the flowering period, pollen falls on the stigmas of the pistils and fertilizes the ovules located in the ovaries, from which seeds are formed.

In barley, oats, wheat, millet, and rice, flowering occurs in such a way that pollen always, or in most cases, lands on the stigma of the same flower, so these crops are classified as self-pollinating. Cross-pollination, characterized by the transfer of pollen from the flowers of one plant to the flower of another, occurs in rye, corn and sorghum.

In the milky ripeness phase (grain formation), the grain is still green. Has a humidity of 50... 65%. At this time, the lower leaves of the plant begin to turn yellow and die.

The waxy ripeness phase occurs 10...15 days after the onset of the milky ripeness phase. By this time, the grain acquires a yellow color, is easily cut with a fingernail, and the humidity decreases to 25 ... 40%.

The phase of complete (solid) ripeness occurs when the grain dries, becomes hard and acquires its characteristic color. Depending on the cultivation zone, the moisture content of ripe grain is 8... 10%. At the beginning of the full ripeness phase, it is advisable to begin harvesting grain with combines. In the phase of full ripeness, the grain easily spills out of the flower scales.

According to seasonal characteristics of growth and development, grains are divided into winter and spring.

Winter crops go through a full development cycle after overwintering in the soil. When sown in spring, they do not form vegetative organs and, therefore, cannot produce grain.

Spring crops cannot overwinter and go through a full development cycle during spring or summer sowing.

Some grain crops have varieties that have the properties of winter and spring plants. They can be cultivated both in autumn and spring. Such varieties of grain crops are called two-handed.