Substantiation of the influence of agrophysical factors and climatic conditions on the yield and quality of winter wheat in the Lower Volga region

Abstract

The article substantiates the influence of agrophysical factors and climatic conditions on the yield and protein and gluten content in winter wheat grain. Agrophysical factors, soil moisture during the sowing period, and the tillering phase of winter wheat for various methods of basic tillage and for years in the Lower Volga region are analyzed. The data obtained for three years (2018–2020) show that a small (by 10–12 cm) basic tillage of black fallow for sowing winter wheat reduces its yield by 0.25 t/ha (10.6%), the content of gluten by 0.4%, of protein by 0.3%. Multiple regression calculations based on the coefficient of multiple determinations showed that the yield of winter wheat grain was 98% dependent on the studied factors, in terms of protein content this indicator was 63%, in terms of gluten - 74%. A complete correlation analysis of the dependence of grain yield, protein and gluten content on the studied factors showed that the most significant influence on the yield of winter wheat was exerted by soil moisture in the tillering phase (R2 = 0.83) and before sowing (R2 = 0.79), and in April - June (R2 = 0.77). The content of gluten and protein in winter wheat grain was mainly determined by soil moisture before sowing (r = - 0.85 and r = - 0.81) and the amount of precipitation during the growing season (r = - 0.84 and r = - 0.73).