Regeneration of cereals

Seed dormancy

  • Cultivated cereals: none.
  • Wild cereals: fresh grains may germinate irregularly or not at all.

In many cases germination is normal after a storage period of about a year. For some accessions this period is longer. Dormancy can be broken by periods of alternating temperatures.

Vernalization

Cultivated winter cereals are sown in October and are vernalized under natural conditions in the field during the winter.
Winter-type wild cereals are sown in trays in January. After germination the trays are placed in an unheated greenhouse for at least six weeks.

Crop phenology


Phen cereals.jpg

Sowing

  • Cultivated winter types (barley, wheat, oats): October.

  • Cultivated spring types (barley, wheat, oats): March.

Grains are sown at a density of 300 seeds per m2, with 1.25 m2 sown. The distance between the rows is 25 cm. When an accession is susceptible to lodging, the plot is being supported by a rope around canes at the four corners.

Wild cereals are sown (spring types) or planted (winter types) in pots, in the greenhouse, 30-64 plants per accession. The plants are supported by 2-4 rings with a 30 cm diameter. During flowering, the ears are wrapped up in perforated polythene bags in order to collect the seeds which scatter as soon as ripe

Harvesting

  • Winter types: July.
  • Spring types: August.

The grains of cultivated cereals are harvested using a small combine, or by hand and stored in bags together with the fieldnumber and pre dried on a drying floor. Accessions with plants which do not ripen at the same time are harvested twice manually. The wild species are harvested by hand by cutting the ears, wrapping them in bags, and pre-drying them on a drying floor or in a drying chamber.

Pest and disease control

  • Preventive: Seed treatment against soil pathogens.
  • Non-preventive: Mildew (Erysiphe graminis)