Winter Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) Overwintering Under Different Sowing Densities

Abstract

Wheat overwintering ability affects the final number of plants that are able to continue their growth and development when necessary conditions are established. This research was conducted to study the overwintering ability of winter wheat cultivars (NS 40S, Prima and Nova Bosanka) under different sowing densities during 2013/14 and 2014/15 in agroecological conditions of Banja Luka. Standard agronomic practices for winter wheat were performed. Wheat cultivars were sown manually, under sowing densities with different seed arrangements: 384, 424, 451, 504, 544, 584, 588, and 604 seeds m-2. Counting of wheat plants in both examined years was carried out in the second decade of February. Statistical analysis was performed using factorial analysis of variance 2×8×3, while significant differences between treatments were tested by LSD test. The average overwintering plants percentage for all three examined wheat cultivars was 50.06%. Sowing density of 588 seeds m-2 stands out as the density with a tendency of the highest percentage of overwintering plants in both years.