MONITORING OF WEEDINESS OF WINTER SPELT CROPS IN POLISSIA AND FOREST-STEPPE OF UKRAINE

Abstract

The article presents the results of monitoring the species composition of winter spelt segetal vegetation and the frequency of occurrence of the most common and harmful weeds in the Polissіa and Forest-Steppe zones of Ukraine. Due to climate warming, which we observe every year, there has been an increase in the contamination of grain crops with wintering weeds. Weed infestation of crops is one of the factors that negatively affect the growth and development of winter spelt, aimed at increasing its yield. The aim of the study is to determine the species and quantitative diversity of weeds in winter spelt phytocoenoses. The research aimed at studying the peculiarities of growing and using winter spelt began in 2016 on the basis of the training and research field of Polissia National University and agricultural enterprises of various forms of ownership in Zhytomyr, Kyiv, Rivne, Vinnytsia and Khmelnytskyi regions. Weeds in winter spelt phytocoenoses were also constantly monitored. According to the results of the research, the species composition of weeds in winter spelt phytocoenoses in the Polissia and Forest-Steppe zones was compared by different categories of weeds. It was found that the structure of weeds in Polissia is concentrated on later species, which is the result of a long growing season, while in the Forest-Steppe weeds adapt to a shorter growing season and specific climatic conditions. In Polissia, late spring weeds are the most common (50,6%), which is due to sufficient moisture during the growing season, which gives them an advantage in conditions of stable moisture. In the Forest-Steppe, ephemerals (6,1 %) and wintering weeds (28,6 %) prevailed, indicating drier and warmer conditions that contribute to the rapid development of ephemerals and the ability of wintering species to survive cold winters.