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). ;

Cereals are the most widely grown crops in Europe, accounting for 53.8% of total crop area. Today’s farmers are facing serious challenges – climate change, resource scarcity and population growth, which can have a negative impact on the quantity and cost of agricultural production. It is therefore important to focus on the development of cereal breeding programmes and the introduction of new technologies, including High-Throughput phenotyping methods. The aim of this paper was to analyse the recent scientific literature on the current use of ground-based sensors applied in High-Throughput Phenotyping Platforms (HTPPs) for the assessment and analysis of morphological and physiological traits in cereals and for the selection of high-yielding genotypes. This enables the breeder to asses and identify genotypes of interest more quickly and accurately at different stages of plant development and in larger field and laboratory trials than with traditional breeding methods. The paper also provides information on the potential of using ground-based HTPPs, the most important methodological principles in setting up trials and measuring traits to ensure the accuracy of the assessments and the processing and interpretation of the results.

This study aimed to compare different herbicide application schemes in winter wheat, including the application of glyphosate-containing herbicides in stubble and autumn or spring post-emergence application. Field experiments were conducted in 2022–2024, on two different farms, with two fields selected each year on each farm, where the pre-crop was either winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) or oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.). Glyphosate application had a significant effect on weed biomass reduction if the pre-crop was oilseed rape with herbicide application in one of the years, but not if it was winter wheat. The effect of glyphosate application also depended on the year and was most pronounced in the year when the sowing was performed later, reaching up to 57% weed biomass reduction without the application of post-emergence herbicides. A positive effect of glyphosate application on the grain yield was observed if the pre-crop was oilseed rape. The application of post-emergence herbicides resulted in a median weed biomass reduction of 95–96% of the untreated control. Additional herbicide application in spring did not improve weed control nor result in a yield increase. The likely causes of this are the competitive ability of winter wheat, as well as lower weed density and deeper stubble cultivation in the trials where the pre-crop was wheat. Further trials must be conducted in fields infested with grass-weed species to compare the effect of one versus two post-emergence applications. Post-emergence herbicide application, but not glyphosate application, had a negative effect on the alpha diversity of weed species, whereas higher weed diversity was associated with a higher yield increase when the pre-crop was winter oilseed rape, in the absence of highly competitive grass-weed species.

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.