Winter rapeseed die-off is observed in a number of regions

The death of winter crops became an unexpected surprise for many this year. In the central regions (the north of the Cherkasy region on the border with the Kyiv region and further north and west), where there was snow cover, there are no problems, all crops overwintered. The further south, the worse the situation.

This was reported by the head of the Agro Department of LNZ Group, Oleksandr Khmeliuk, as part of the business event "Agronomist as CEO of the field" by WEAGRO and Activitis Education.

"In the southern regions the snow turned into freezing rain and an ice crust formed, in places the ice on the fields reached a thickness of 10 cm. Accordingly, the winter crops were not protected from the effect of low temperatures. First of all, overwintering peas and winter barley suffered, wheat and winter rapeseed got it less. In places the rapeseed survived, but is now beginning to die off. And the cause was root rots of bacterial or fungal origin as a result of mechanical damage to the root collar," noted Oleksandr Khmeliuk.

He explained: when the soil froze, the root collar of the rapeseed was mechanically damaged, in places there was also damage by cutting pests in the soil. Now it has warmed up, and colonisation by disease pathogens has occurred. Today the rapeseed looks green in the fields, but if you touch the plant, the top immediately falls off. This will continue for a certain period of time, 2-3 weeks, after which an assessment can be made and a decision taken regarding the further fate of such fields: to keep or to resow.

Source:agroportal.ua