The influence of slope exposure on the yield characteristics of winter wheat and spring barley in the Oka River basin, Russia

Abstract

<p>We studied the relationship of the yield of winter wheat and spring barley with slope exposure components in the west of the Oka River basin. The size of the study area was 250 km by 360 km. The yield characteristics included the maximal yield obtained when applying the optimal dose of fertilizers, the yield without applying fertilizers (control) and the maximal addition to yield, that is, their difference. The addition is shown to be most sensitive to climatic factors. For wheat, the addition increased on the warmer south-western slopes, and for barley—on the wetter north-eastern slopes. The high sensitivity of the addition for barley to moisture is shown using it comparison with climatic water deficit. To compare slopes by the energy of incident solar radiation, we used the slope insolation in energy units. Although the difference in energy between the south-west and north-east slopes was only 2.2%, wheat addition on these slopes varied by more than a factor of two. The reasons for this are discussed. The results obtained show that when choosing locations for crop areas, it is advisable to take into account the exposure of the slopes.<strong></strong></p>