Winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is one of the most widespread and economically beneficial crops in Latvia. Wheat grain yield and quality are strongly related to the growing conditions of crop that are possible to improve agronomically by carrying out an appropriate soil tillage and growing it in a well-planned crop sequence. The aim of the study to determine soil tillage system and precrop influence to winter wheat flag leaf parameters and grain yield quality indicators. A two-factor field trials was set up in the Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies training and research farm “Peterlauki” in 2022/2023: 1. soil tillage system and 2. precrop. The basic indicators of flag leaf length, width (cm) and flag leaf area (cm2) of a winter wheat were detected using a scanner STD4800 and the specialized computer program WinFOLIA Regent Instruments Software were determined from 10 plants in each variant. Three samples from each variant were taken for yield determination and structural elements of crops. Winter wheat 1000 grain weight and grain quality indicators were determined in Grain and Seed study and research laboratory of LBTU. Winter wheat precrop did not significantly affect (p>0.05) grain yield in the trial year, but the lowest yield was obtained in the conventional soil tillage system where wheat was grown in repeated sowings (5.1 t ha-1), and the highest yield in the minimal soil tillage system where precrop was field beans (7.0 t ha-1). The larger winter wheat flag leaf area was determined in both soil tillage systems, if the winter wheat precrop was field beans, the relationships are not significant (p>0.05). ;

A two-year trial (2021 and 2022) was performed with five different fungicide and foliar fertiliser application strategies to control apple scab (Venturia inaequalis) in integrated apple orchards in Latvia. A strategy of using inorganic fungicides or combining them with synthetic fungicides was compared to a strategy of applications with only synthetic fungicides and untreated control. Furthermore, two strategies included foliar fertilisers to determine whether they may affect apple scab used alone or combined with synthetic fungicides. The timing of the fungicide applications was based on the risk forecasted by the decision support system RIMpro, and fertilisers were used at certain growth stages of the crop. The disease incidence on untreated fruits on cv. Auksis ranged from 38.3% to 59.6%, and on cv. Ligol from 99.3% to 99.5%. Strategies including synthetic fungicides were the most effective against scab on shoot leaves and fruits. The strategy using only inorganic fungicides was effective for low-inoculum orchards. Combining synthetic and inorganic fungicides provided the best apple scab control strategy on fruits, likely helping reduce the resistance selection pressure and residues of synthetic fungicides. Foliar fertilisers were insufficient to control apple scab; they would supplement existing scab fungicide programs.

Spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is the most widely grown spring cereal in Latvia. The aim of the research was to determine soil tillage system and precrops influence of spring wheat flag leaf area and grain yield quality indicators. Field trials were carried out at the Research and Study farm “Peterlauki” study site “Poki” (56º30.658’ N and 23º41.580’ E) of the Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies (LBTU) at year 2024. Spring wheat ‘Berlock’ was grown with two soil tillage systems (conventional and minimal soil tillage) and three different precrops (winter wheat, winter oilseed and spring oilseed rape). The flag leaf area (cm2) has been analyzed by using scanner STD4800 and specialized computer software WinFOLIA. The determination of the yield components, grain yield (t ha-1) and straw yield (t ha-1) was made by sample sheaf analysis. Grain quality indicators: crude protein content; starch content; gluten content and Zeleny index, thousand grain weight were determined in Grain and seed study and research laboratory at LBTU. Significant differences (p<0.05) between soil tillage systems were found in flag leaf area and length. A strong positive correlation was observed between grain yield and flag leaf area r=0.854 for conventional and r=0.958 for minimal soil tillage system. Sample sheaf analysis showed significant differences in spike mass and grain weight. Among grain quality indicators, gluten content differed significantly and significant differences were associated with the precrops (p<0.05). It should be noted that in the 2024 growing season, July saw increased precipitations at the trial site.