Field variability and storage of white mustard plants depending on the seed sowing rate

Abstract

Fluctuations in climatic resources, with a tendency to increase temperature, today require an expansion of the range of agricultural crops, including oilseeds. This is possible by introducing more drought-resistant crops into the crop rotation, which are able to easily adapt to different growing conditions. One of such crops is white mustard. According to the results of research conducted on the farm during 2022–2024, the impact of technological methods of cultivating white mustard was revealed, due to the optimization of the sowing rate, which will ensure high and stable yields of white mustard oilseeds in the conditions of the Forest-Steppe of Ukraine. When sowing mustard plants early, they develop better, and when sowing them late, the development of plants is accelerated by 6–14 days, the duration of interphase periods is reduced, which leads to a decrease in crop yield. When the rate is increased to 4.0 million, the number of plants at the time of harvesting decreases to 85.3 %. The maximum safety index of mustard plants before harvesting was observed in the variant with a sowing rate of 2.5 million similar seeds and was 91.1 %, which is 0.2 % higher compared to the control variant and 0.4–5.8 % – compared to other sowing rates. In 2022, the maximum safety index of mustard plants before harvesting was noted in the variant with a rate of 1.0 million. s. seeds/ha – 93.2 %, and significantly exceeded the control variant. At a sowing rate of 2.5 million, plant safety was significantly lower (by 1.1 %) and was 92.1 %. A positive effect of the sowing rate on the formation of productive stalked white mustard was established. The highest field germination rates (91.9 %) and plant survival to harvest (91.1 %) were observed when sowing mustard with a seeding rate of 2.5 million viable seeds per hectare. It was found that a mustard seeding rate of 2.5 million viable seeds allows for the creation of crops with an optimal leaf surface and its preservation for a long period of time. When growing white mustard in the conditions of the Forest-Steppe of Ukraine in order to obtain high and stable yields of seeds with high quality, we recommend sowing white mustard of the Talisman variety in a row method with a seeding rate of 2.5 million viable seeds per hectare.