Pille Sooväli

Oat grain is indicated to be of great value, especially for its favourable effects on the health of humans and animals. Food and feed industries can utilise only fully developed and faultless oat grain that can be harvested from healthy, unattacked plants. Cultivating disease- resistant varieties seems to be an optimum alternative to chemical control. Growing of the resistant varieties is the most effective biological control of diseases. It is highly economic and ideal from the ecological point of view. Disease resistant varieties are the basic precondition for successful sustainable (organic) agriculture. Stem rust (Puccinia graminis Pers. f. sp. avenae Erikss. et Henn) and crown rust (Puccinia coronata Cda. f. sp. avenae Erikss.) are the potentially destructive diseases of oat crop in Estonian conditions. The effectiveness of resistance sources to Puccinia coronata and Puccinia graminis was tested in the framework of the European and Mediterranean Oat Disease Nursery (EMODN) at J...

Septoria leaf blotch complex (Septoria tritici and Septoria nodorum) and powdery mildew (Blumeria graminis) are common foliar diseases of spring wheat in Estonia. This paper reports results of multi-site field experiments performed on spring wheat varieties Tjalve and Munk during 2003-2004 in Estonia. Fungicides Falcon 460 EC and Opera were used in full and reduced doses of one or split applications. The aim of the current study was to obtain efficient disease control and to identify the impact of fungicide application on yield at the time of fungicide application. The biological efficiency of fungicides was assessed based on disease scorings made until growing stages 75-77. The trial results show that biologically and economically effective control of wheat diseases could be achieved with timely use of lowered fungicide doses. Spraying at growing stages 41-55 will often be enough to achieve good control of serious attacks by Septoria.

Seed production agrotechnics of chewings fescueHerbert´. Jõgeva Plant Breeding Institute carried through two cycles of field experiments in 2001-2006 to elaborate seed production techniques for chewings fescue cultivar 'Herbert'. We studied the impact of sowing time (10 and 24 May, 10 and 24 June), sowing rate (4, 6, 8 and 10 kg ha-1), drill space (15, 45 and 60 cm) and the application rate and time of nitrogenous fertiliser (N 70 kg ha-1 in spring + 35 kg in the second half of summer, N 70 kg ha-1 in spring + 70 kg in the second half of summer, N 105 kg ha-1 in spring + 35 kg in the second half of summer and N 105 kg ha-1 just in spring without nitrogen application in late sum- mer) on the seed yield and quality. In another experi- ment the storage life of viable seeds was monitored in a warehouse with uncontrolled environment. The efficacy of five herbicides or their mixtures in controlling short- lived dicotyledonous weeds on the seed production field of chewings fescue i...