Cereal growth staging scales attempt to objectively measure the growth of

cereal A cereal is any grass cultivated for the edible components of its grain (botanically, a type of fruit called a caryopsis), composed of the endosperm, germ, and bran. Cereal grain crops are grown in greater quantities and provide more foo ...

BBCH-scale (cereals)

agronomy Agronomy is the science and technology of producing and using plants by agriculture for food, fuel, fiber, chemicals, recreation, or land conservation. Agronomy has come to include research of plant genetics, plant physiology, meteorology, and s ...

, the BBCH-scale for cereals describes the

phenological Phenology is the study of periodic events in biological life cycles and how these are influenced by seasonal and interannual variations in climate, as well as habitat factors (such as elevation). Examples include the date of emergence of leav ...

development of

s using the

BBCH-scale The BBCH-scale is used to identify the phenological development stages of plants. BBCH-scales have been developed for a range of crop species where similar growth stages of each plant are given the same code. Phenological development stages of plan ...

. The phenological growth stages and BBCH-identification keys of cereals are: * ¹ A leaf is unfolded when its ligule is visible or the tip of the next leaf is visible * ² Tillering or stem elongation may occur earlier than stage 13; in this case continue with stages 21 *³ If stem elongation begins before the end of tillering continue with stage 30

Feekes scale

The Feekes scale is a system to identify the growth and development of

cereal crops A cereal is any grass cultivated for the edible components of its grain (botanically, a type of fruit called a caryopsis), composed of the endosperm, germ, and bran. Cereal grain crops are grown in greater quantities and provide more food en ...

introduced by the Dutch

agronomists An agriculturist, agriculturalist, agrologist, or agronomist (abbreviated as agr.), is a professional in the science, practice, and management of agriculture and agribusiness. It is a regulated profession in Canada, India, the Philippines, the U ...

Willem Feekes (1907-1979) in 1941. This scale is more widely used in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

than other similar and more descriptive scales such as the

Zadoks scale Cereal growth staging scales attempt to objectively measure the growth of cereals. BBCH-scale (cereals) In agronomy, the BBCH-scale for cereals describes the phenological development of cereals using the BBCH-scale. The phenological growth stage ...

or the BBCH scale. Like other scales of crop development, the Feekes scale is useful in planning management strategies that incorporate plant growth information for the use of

pesticides Pesticides are substances that are meant to pest control, control pest (organism), pests. This includes herbicide, insecticide, nematicide, molluscicide, piscicide, avicide, rodenticide, bactericide, insect repellent, animal repellent, microb ...

and

fertilizers A fertilizer (American English) or fertiliser (British English; see spelling differences) is any material of natural or synthetic origin that is applied to soil or to plant tissues to supply plant nutrients. Fertilizers may be distinct from ...

to avoid damaging the crop and/or maximize

crop yield In agriculture, the yield is a measurement of the amount of a crop grown, or product such as wool, meat or milk produced, per unit area of land. The seed ratio is another way of calculating yields. Innovations, such as the use of fertilizer, the c ...

Zadoks scale

The Zadoks scale is a

development scale proposed by the Dutch

phytopathologist Plant pathology (also phytopathology) is the scientific study of diseases in plants caused by pathogens (infectious organisms) and environmental conditions (physiological factors). Organisms that cause infectious disease include fungi, oomyc ...

Jan Zadoks Jan Carel Zadoks (born 6 February 1929) is a Dutch botanist and a professor emeritus of ecological plant pathology at Wageningen University & Research. Career Zadoks studied biology at the University of Amsterdam and received his PhD. cum l ...

that is widely used in cereal research and agriculture. Knowing the stages of development of a crop is critical in many management decisions that growers make. They are represented on a scale from 10 to 92. For example, in some countries,

nitrogen Nitrogen is the chemical element with the symbol N and atomic number 7. Nitrogen is a nonmetal and the lightest member of group 15 of the periodic table, often called the pnictogens. It is a common element in the universe, estimated at seve ...

and herbicide applications must be completed during the

tiller A tiller or till is a lever used to steer a vehicle. The mechanism is primarily used in watercraft, where it is attached to an outboard motor, rudder post or stock to provide leverage in the form of torque for the helmsman to turn the rudder ...

ing stage. In

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

, the recommendation for the first nitrogen application on wheat is 6 weeks before Z30, with the second application on Z30.

Wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeolog ...

growth regulators are typically applied at Z30. Disease control is most critical in the stem extension and heading stage (Z31, Z32, Z35), in particular as soon as the flag leaf is out (Z37). The crop is also more sensitive to heat or frost at some stages than others (for example, during the meiosis stage the crop is very sensitive to low temperature). Knowing the growth stage of the crop when checking for problems is essential for deciding which control measures should be followed. Examples of typical stages * during tillering **Z10: one leaf **Z21: tillering begins * during stem extension ** Z30: ear is one centimeter long in wheat ** Z31: first node visible ** Z32: second node visible ** Z37: flag leaf * during heading **Z55: the head is 1/2 emerged. * during ripening **Z92: grains are ripe

References

* * *{{cite journal , last = Witzenberger , first = A. , author2=H. Hack , author3=T. van den Boom , title = Erläuterungen zum BBCH-Dezimal-Code für die Entwicklungsstadien des Getreides - mit Abbildungen , journal = Gesunde Pflanzen , volume = 41 , pages = 384–388 , date = 1989

External links

Citation Classic of 1985
Agronomy BBCH-scale Cereals

BBCH-scale (cereals)

Feekes scale

Zadoks scale

References

Further reading

External links