How to sow wheat in a field. Wheat as green manure in spring and autumn - what are the benefits, what plants to combine with, when to sow

Of all the known cereal plants, wheat was the earliest to be cultivated. Asia is considered its homeland. The main purpose of culture is culinary. But another property of wheat is known - to restore the soil after the fruiting of vegetable plants, which remove nutrients from the soil. The green manure method is one of the cheapest and most effective.

Three incorporations of cereals or any other green manure into the soil completely satisfy the plant in terms of the amount of nutrients - nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus. But you can get a triple harvest in just one season, which is financially beneficial, since you only need to buy seed material.

There are more costs on depleted soils - there will be a need for preliminary application of complex mineral mixtures to the soil. The advantage is that these costs will return to the soil in the form of organic matter, which also restores the amount of humus.

The use of wheat as green manure is primarily due to the large amount of greenery that grows in the shortest possible time. The growing season before mowing cereal green manure is a maximum of 1.5 months. Cereals are good precursors for all garden plants, since they belong either to the nightshade, cruciferous or legume families.

You can sow wheat as green manure in the fall after potatoes, tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini or cabbage. And these are the main crops that are cultivated in summer cottages.

Winter or spring wheat - which is better?

There are several types of wheat:

• durum varieties

• soft varieties.

In turn, each species has winter and spring varieties. There are about 400 species in total. For each region, species that produce more yield are selected.

Biological characteristics of spring varieties

Spring wheat differs from winter varieties:

• Greater vulnerability to pests and weeds.

• It cannot grow in acidic soils because it does not receive nutrients in the required quantities.

• Durum varieties of spring wheat are more demanding of nutrients than soft ones.

• Shoots appear at a temperature of 2 degrees, so spring wheat can be sown in winter.

• Demanding on moisture. Without additional watering, yields are reduced by 60%. Soft varieties are less demanding on watering, as they have a more developed root system, unlike hard varieties.

• Wheat is not used as a green fertilizer on podzolic soils for the purpose of soil cultivation. The plant is suitable only for areas already introduced into crop rotation as an intercrop.

In addition, you can select varieties that are resistant to lodging, leaf rust, and septoria. This is important if outbreaks of these infections are noticed at your summer cottage and you need to give the soil a rest so that fungal spores stop multiplying.

Biological characteristics of winter varieties

Winter varieties have greater yield potential - on average 25% more than spring varieties. Winter wheat is grown in areas with unpredictable weather conditions, where temperature changes are large and there is a risk of seedling damage.

When sowing winter wheat on green manure in autumn, shoots appear earlier, therefore mowing and planting in the ground can be done earlier in order to have time to plant the seedlings on the prepared ground. Winter varieties of cereals work well after corn, potatoes, and clover.

If it is necessary to restore depleted soils, then sowing green manure is carried out 3–4 times per season. In this case, wheat is sown on partially prepared soil. Among the winter varieties, the most resistant to drought are the ones that are most resistant to drought - in the southern regions, it is better to sow winter wheat for green manure.

Advantages of planting wheat on green manure

Plant tissues contain large amounts of organic matter. With dense sowing, you can get green food for pets, greens for compost and for embedding in the ground, the root system also serves as fertilizer, decomposing in the soil.

The straw remaining after the grain is separated serves as bedding and roughage for cattle. The grain is easily stored in dry areas and can be used as feed for birds, rabbits, cows and horses.

In cold winter conditions, only those varieties that can withstand low temperatures can be grown. It is possible to reseed wheat in the spring if most of the seedlings died under the snow. Dead plants are organic matter needed by the soil. Their tissues rot and release nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus, and microelements into the soil. Wheat takes most of its nitrogen from the air as green manure, so less mineral fertilizers are required before planting.

Technology of sowing green manure

Before planting wheat, the area must be cleared of weeds. If there are a lot of weeds, it is better to use herbicides for the first time. But you need to be careful - these are toxic substances. If you plan to feed fresh greens to animals, they may die if they eat toxic chemicals.

Productivity is influenced by such indicators as:

• sowing dates;

• pre-sowing preparation of grain and its heating;

• grain embedding depth;

• sowing method;

• subsequent care - mainly watering and antifungal treatment.

Depending on the type of soil on the site, the sowing depth is selected. On sandstones and sandy loam soils, the depth of grain embedding can reach 7–9 cm. The heavier the soil, the shallower the depth should be, because it will be more difficult for seedlings to break through to the surface, especially in dry soil; some of them die at this stage. On clay and loamy soils, planting material is buried to a depth of 3–4 cm.

Before sowing wheat, the grains are treated with special antifungal drugs and heated in the sun. In industrial cultivation, special heating installations are used, where the air temperature is about 50 degrees. At home, the seeds are soaked in a solution of potassium permanganate.

Particular attention should be paid to aftercare. Wheat is especially susceptible to diseases such as fusarium and septoria. Less sensitive to root rot, powdery mildew, and brown rust. Insects such as turtles, fall armyworms, Hessian flies, and bread beetles can damage crops. Insecticides are used to combat them.

A mixture of cereal and legume green manures - benefits

Wheat is grown as a green manure plant, but a mixture of cereals and cruciferous plants, cereals and legumes is much more effective. In Holland, three- and four-component mixtures are practiced. Research has shown that such crops are much more beneficial and restore soil faster than monocrops.

In Holland, the requirements for the amount of mineral fertilizers and chemicals used for processing have been tightened, so farmers have to experiment and use green manure, which perform phytosanitary and fertilizing functions at the same time.

The most common mixtures are:

• oats and vetch;

• wheat and mustard;

• rye and mustard;

• barley combined with lupine.

To avoid unnecessary use of mineral fertilizers, the main ones of which are nitrogen-containing additives, use the nitrogen-fixing properties of legumes. Colonies of bacteria form on their root system, which bind nitrogen from the air and allow the plants to gain green mass with natural nutrition. Since wheat absorbs a large amount of nitrogen during growth, proximity to legumes provides a chance for rapid development and growth of green mass.

Planting wheat with mustard provides good soil disinfection and protects cereals from damage by fungus or insect pests. Mustard is a well-known phytosanitary due to the content of active substances in the greens, so pests leave the places where mustard grows.

Wheat as a cover crop

Some summer residents prefer to grow alfalfa as green manure, since it is used for animal feed, as well as for cooking, while the greens are still young.

But alfalfa grows poorly in the first year and produces a small harvest, so a taller crop, such as oats or wheat, is used to protect the seedlings from the wind. Cereals prevent weeds from multiplying and taking nutrients from young alfalfa. In the second year, alfalfa can be planted independently using the coverless method.

With the cover method of growing alfalfa in the first year, you can get more green mass from wheat, if it is used not only as green manure, but is needed for animals or birds.

Is it possible to sow wheat as green manure together with or after other grains? It is undesirable, since diseases characteristic of cereal crops take root in the soil. Alternating cereals, legumes and cruciferous green manures is the best choice. Or you need to mix seeds of different crops - they will feed each other and protect against diseases.

When to sow wheat as green manure

In order to restore the site, green manure plants are sown immediately after the main crops are harvested. This happens in the following order:

• The tops are removed and burned.

• Weeds are removed with a flat cutter or manually.

• Mineral fertilizers are applied to cereal plants to replenish the soil and promote rapid green growth. If wheat is planted in a mixture with legumes, then nitrogen components do not need to be added - only potassium-phosphorus fertilizers are added.

• The seeds are scattered and the area is watered. If the soil is mixed with sand, then you can make depressions in the form of rows and fill the grains deeper - up to 6 - 7 cm. Sprinkle and water the rows.

Crops made in August have time to grow 20–25 cm before the onset of cold weather. They are cut off and left on the ground to rot. You can dig up the soil - it’s up to you to decide for yourself. After the first autumn sowing, you can plant cereals again, but now winter ones, which will continue to grow in the spring. These shoots will go under the snow. Some of them may die in the frost, some will survive and sprout in the spring.

When to sow winter wheat as green manure must be decided depending on the climate of the region. In warm climates this is the end of October, beginning of November. In cold weather - mid-October - during Indian summer, which lasts about a week.

In winter, you can combine cereals with phacelia - this is also a frost-resistant plant. It is not a cereal, but is resistant to various diseases. Where phacelia grows, the soil is healthier. Another advantage of this proximity is that phacelia has a long tap root, reaching a depth of 1.5 meters.

In sandy soils, it pulls nutrients from deep layers and delivers them closer to the surface, where the wheat roots can receive them. Wheat has a fibrous root system located closer to the surface - no deeper than 50 cm, so the plants cannot get food.

In autumn you can sow wheat with lupine. This mixture promotes the rapid growth of cereals due to the increased nitrogen content in the soil, and lupine grows faster and can be periodically pruned in the spring and used as green fertilizer in other beds.

When to sow spring wheat varieties

Seedlings are activated at soil temperatures of 4 - 5 degrees. The question is in which region when the soil warms up to the required temperatures. Then you can sow spring cereals. For insurance, they are combined with other, more frost-resistant green manures.

Summer residents have little interest in grain crops, so you rarely see rye, barley or wheat in the garden beds.

It seems that it is not rational to sow these crops in small plots.

But if there is enough space, then you can master the sowing of winter wheat.

Even if it is not possible to grow bread, such plantings will become a good green manure for other vegetable crops.

Wheat predecessors

The quality of seedlings depends on the condition of the land in which winter wheat will be sown.

Therefore, the main condition is to select a site with the “correct” predecessors. These include meadow crops (alfalfa, clover) used to feed livestock - if planting wheat is planned on a virgin plot.

In cultivated beds before winter planting of wheat, it is advisable to grow legumes, corn, buckwheat, and early-ripening potatoes. An excellent option is melon.

Such soils will be sufficiently enriched with nitrogen, which is necessary for normal germination of wheat.

Soil preparation

The soil for sowing winter wheat should be prepared based on the “status” of the selected area. It is he who determines what fertilizers should be added and when to till the soil.

• If something was already grown on the site before sowing wheat seeds, then after harvesting the main crop, the soil is first hulled and then harrowed, trying to achieve a fine soil grain. The later the sowing is done, the shallower the plowing depth is undertaken.

• Often, “walked” land is used for winter wheat – the so-called “fallows”. The soil has been sufficiently rested and enriched, so germination should be good. This area is prepared in advance - by digging, harrowing and fertilizing in the spring. On fallow lands, sowing of winter crops begins earlier than after predecessor crops. Therefore, seed placement will be deeper.

Sowing wheat

Selected varieties of winter wheat, according to zoning, are pre-treated, protecting them from diseases and possible pests. The usual planting depth should be 4-5 cm.

In areas with a fairly dry climate, as well as when planting too early, this parameter increases to 8 cm. When planting seeds into the ground late, the maximum depth should be 3 cm.

The planting pattern for winter wheat is usual for growing cereals - in rows located at a distance of 15 cm from each other.

If the cultivation is planned to be quite intensive, then a tramline should also be made.

The final stage of sowing is rolling up the rows, which will further ensure more uniform germination of the sprouts.

Wheat fertilizer

Adding fertilizers to the soil also has its own characteristics. The main nutrition is introduced into the ground during sowing.

C O O P E R A T I V

for the production of organic fertilizers based on sapropels

(OFFICE TECHNICAL PROJECT)

SUMMARY

The entry of the Russian Federation into the WTO changes the distribution of state subsidies to agricultural producers for the purchase of fertilizers, fuel, etc. Only those who ensure grain yields in volumes from 80 to 100 centners in bunker weight will receive it. This is the south of the European part of Russia. All other farmers, with grain yields from 15 to 20 c/ha, will be forced to abandon agriculture due to unprofitability. How it was done in the Baltic countries.
The way out of the situation created for us gives us an understanding of the possibilities of Nature. They have already begun to be defined by science and presented to “understanding” farmers for practical use. One of them is sapropel (silt of swamps and rivers), which can become the basis for the activities of an agricultural cooperative in many regions of the country.
In contrast to the WTO conditions, aimed at increasing productivity through the monopoly use of mineral fertilizers, our MISSION is to increase the fertility of the soils of “unpromising” lands in Russia and their expanded use by reducing the cost of grown products. There is a lot of land. Sapropel will improve the quality of soils and - accordingly - will allow you to grow environmentally friendly (chemical-free) expensive products without high costs.

CREATE A RURAL COOPERATIVE
Clarification of “rural” is a perceived need. The point is that urban cooperatives appeared in great numbers from the first years of “perestroika”, as an instrument for the collapse of the industry of the USSR. Everything here has been worked out, legalized, and enriched with services and foreign investments. In contrast to the village, where the main thing was the collapse of the rural cooperative system.
The villagers will have to start with the smallest things. This will be forced by the understanding of the hopelessness of the situation created by the WTO and the current situation. The ongoing collapse of agriculture has brought the people to the question of survival in the countryside at the expense of the land. And what to do in the spring? Sow or abandon everything, as thousands of farmers and individual entrepreneurs have already done. There is no need to count on investments: they are given for a large business that is attractive to capitalists, and even if the borrowers have their own funds corresponding to the scale. Therefore, you will have to start from scratch. And first, find those willing to participate in community production.
And to start, find a promising topic for your activities based on the resources available in the region. They are. For example, the silt of swamps and rivers, scientifically called sapropel. The peasantry has always used it to increase productivity. And now, in the agricultural technology of Natural farming (without chemicals), sapropel will become the most profitable component for use on all low-yield lands in Russia. Judge for yourself:
1. Raw materials are free. Take as much as you want, helping to improve the environmental situation in the region. You can receive a grant from the regional budget for such a topic.
2. Extraction of raw materials is the simplest. A private gardener scoops up sludge with a bucket using a rope. In increased volumes, you can extract silt from swamps and rivers with a barrel: they throw it into the depths and, filling it when pulled with a cable, under the “club”: - it will go on its own!” - pull out. Both automobile and tractor winches are used. Next - excavators, dredgers... Business responded to the prospects of the topic: it gives equipment!
3. The production of sapropel fertilizer is simple. All kinds of organic matter are added to the dried sludge: peat, sawdust, leaves, tops, etc. When mixing them, good manure soil is added to the mass, carrying a culture of bacteria that forms soil fertility. All this is piled up, turning into fertilizer. It will be necessary to build a premises for packaging products and a small warehouse for 20 tons. In general, one hectare of production area can produce from 100 to 500 tons of finished products per year. Further more...
4. Sales of products. The main consumers of the products will be, as experience shows, urban private buyers for indoor plants and local areas, owners of garden plots, landscape design firms, nurseries and greenhouses.
But that’s all - later... You’ll have to start with the local population, offering fertilizer in advance with payment in the fall, after harvesting the resulting crop. Moreover, payment is not made in money, but in products grown according to the agricultural technology proposed by the cooperative. We have them, they will be developed by cooperatives, used to educate the people and... expand the ranks of the community. Having convinced themselves of the effectiveness of the Natural Farming System technologies from their own experience, and having worked with cooperators, people will begin to join the cooperative, expanding its ranks. There has long been a proverb: “Together together is not burdensome, but apart - at least leave it!” Our “new reality” is a communal way of life, which will be based on a cooperative of the new Divine content of internal human relationships in the material world.
5. Economic indicators of the project. Without knowing the capabilities of the team, it is impossible to foresee them. But the experience of those who got into sapropel shows 30% profitability with deviations of + and -.

DEVELOPMENT PROSPECTS WILL DETERMINE

Cereals
The production of sapropel fertilizer allows us to expand the scope of the cooperative’s business. First of all, it solves the most important problem - increasing agricultural productivity. It is not realistic to achieve the indicators of the Krasnodar region for grain crops in the Vladimir region: there is not enough sun for photosynthesis. But in the north there are many empty and abandoned lands. I propose a maneuver: use them to increase the marketable mass, albeit not by high yields, but... by lower costs.
Let’s compare: to obtain high yields (required by the WTO), powerful and expensive equipment is created, a lot of mineral fertilizers, pesticides and other things are consumed. All this falls on the cost of grown products. And if we take grains, then a ton of grown wheat costs farms per hectare of crops on average in the country 13,650 rubles. This is with the existing agrochemical officially operating agricultural technology. And this hectare will give 8,000 rubles at the average floating price of wheat. per ton, i.e. only 18,400 rubles. Of these, as you can see, 74% will be spent on the listed costs, as well as on the added costs of grain processing and storage; then general business expenses, taxes, interest, etc. are added. And what does the farmer end up with?
The transfer of farming by a cooperative to an organic Natural farming system reduces costs per hectare to 4,500 rubles/ha. But that’s not all. After all, calculations were made for an average yield of 23 c/ha. According to the terms of the WTO, it should become increased. We, deprived of state subsidies, must have our own strategy. Having empty lands, we need to grow not more per hectare, but cheaper. And here are the reasons for this.
Sowing is carried out without plowing and over stubble. This stubble or other crop residues, as well as abandoned fields, are first only disced, turning with added sapropel into fertilized ones. And even with a mulching effect.
Sowing of grain is carried out in two lines, alternating two empty ones (the seed tubes in the seeder are closed): 2 - sown, 2 - empty, etc. Sowing with a conventional seeder. The main thing here is to reduce the seeding rate. Two missing lines give the plants additional nutrition due to the empty space on the right and left, and also provide the leaves with space for photosynthesis. And then the plants do not have to reach up to the sun, overtaking each other... and growing straw. All efforts are spent on creating the maximum possible harvest by growing new stems with ears.
Nature will have an impact here: all her cereal crops grow in bushes. From each grain a sheaf of stems grows. With the current thickened crops, when 6,000,000 grains are sown per hectare, we get one stalk with an ear. If you sow less, you can get seedlings in bushes of 15 - 30 stems or more... While reducing the cost of seeds. People often ask, how much is needed? Experimentation is required for different zones and soils.
In the Stavropol region, ch. Agronomist Natalya Grigorievna Leontyeva convinced the managers of Agroprom Alliance LLC to conduct such an experiment. 315 hectares of field were allocated for the propagation of elite grain. The field was divided into 4 sections to test the optimal seeding per hectare. The result is:
The first one was sown at 66 kg/ha - the harvest was harvested at 46 c/ha.
The second one was sown at 76 kg/ha - the harvest was harvested at 52 c/ha.
The 3rd was sown at 80 kg/ha - the harvest was 56 c/ha.
The 4th was sown at 170 kg/ha - the harvest was 48 c/ha.

25 tons of grain were used for sowing, while traditional technology would have required 69 tons of seeds. The profit from saving seeds amounted to more than half a million rubles. The bunker weight received was 1,500 tons of grain, which is 300 tons more than usual. In total, the Petrovskoye branch with 24,000 hectares received 38 c/ha of winter crops per circle, but it could have been 50 c/ha.

VEGETABLE CROPS

Their set is traditional for the northern regions: all the basic vegetables for nutrition are grown. And sapropel with the addition of Natural farming technologies will double the yield, as was the case with the members of our “People's Experience” Community. We will transfer all knowledge to you and other cooperatives for practical use. And we’ll even join a cooperative to organize, for example, a laboratory for propagating cultures of soil-forming bacteria. They are necessary for farmers in the northern zones, since natural ones freeze out during winter and restore their quantity only by the end of June. And we need it - early! It will be necessary to switch to high beds to get away from the increased groundwater level and frequent rains. And the most important point is that vegetable growing will allow increasing the ranks of the cooperative by attracting people to vegetable growing units on a new cooperative basis. When they work not for the owner, but for themselves.

INDUSTRIAL CROPS

Flax!.. It grows in the northern lands. And sapropel, in combination with the Natural farming system, will ensure its increased quality, productivity and reduced cost.

LEGAL BASIS OF RELATIONS IN A COOPERATIVE

The general principle of contractual relations is payment for the labor of production participants only for the quantity and quality of the product produced.
This can be ensured by the conditional sale of products to a subsequent participant in the production process. For example: by common decision of the members of the cooperative, all products produced receive their intrinsic value. And then the producers of sapropel fertilizer “sell” it to vegetable growers. Which vegetable growers can refuse if it is somehow bad, or reduce its cost. After all, these products become a cost item for them. In turn, vegetable growers also “sell” their grown products to a cooperative vegetable base, which provides sorting, packaging, and other things that are required for further sale. Next, the base “sells” the product to the sales sector. And so on throughout the entire technological chain of the production process. All this ensures increased interest in the final results of the work of each and everyone.
Such relationships should operate by connecting the general processes of the cooperative with other production teams and farms that wish to cooperate along technological chains. For example, for the provision of transport services, part-time production (sorting, packaging, etc.), construction work, etc. as needed
Such activity of individual enterprises turns into internal economic activity, tax-free. And if there are 3–5 manufacturers in the chain, then the price of the product will decrease by 3–5 VAT rates, each of which is 18%. And this is a reserve for increasing production volumes.
Such producers of common products can be farmers and peasant farms, united in their own production cooperatives (PCs) for growing environmentally friendly products. Research-innovation urban structures can provide cooperative collectives with new technologies, new equipment and biotechnologies that increase the profitability of production.

DEVELOPMENT PROSPECTS

The business of growing grain crops has always been highly profitable. Wheat cultivation demonstrates particularly high profitability. On average, the cost of a ton of such grain is 13 thousand rubles, and from one hectare you can get from 15 to 55 tons. But the profitability of the business largely depends on how correctly the business plan for growing wheat is drawn up, and how accurately it is implemented.

Business registration

For official activities of an organization, it is necessary to register as a business entity. Since you will have to deal with agricultural land and products, it makes sense to register not a legal entity or individual entrepreneur, but a form of organization specially designed for this. There are two of them: personal subsidiary plots (LPH) and peasant farms (peasant farms). Since grain crops are usually grown in large volumes, it would be correct to register a peasant farm.

Registration and registration of all necessary permits will cost at least 20 thousand rubles. Next, it is necessary to develop a case project with a feasibility study. You can do this yourself, but it is better to send it to the appropriate consulting company for development. This service will cost approximately 50 thousand rubles. If you order the development of an investment project, they will charge at least 100 thousand rubles for it.

Selecting a territory

It is worth looking for areas for sowing grain crops even before the enterprise is registered. Suitable soils can easily be found in the south of the country, although there are suitable areas in the middle zone. When choosing a field for sowing, one must take into account not only the topography and climatic features of the area, but also what crops were previously grown on it.

As for the required area, 400 hectares is enough for a small farm to demonstrate the necessary profitability. With average profitability, a farm should have about 5 thousand hectares at its disposal.

It is better not to buy the land, but to rent it for a couple of years. And only if the experience of these years shows good productivity and prospects for the business, try to buy out the leased areas. The rental amount is usually 3.5 thousand rubles. per year, but the final price depends on the soil type and region. It is also strongly influenced by the level of infrastructure development and distance from populated areas.

Technique

The lion's share of the funds will be spent on the purchase of special equipment, for which it is advisable to allocate a separate machine and tractor station. Such techniques include:

• Baler.
• Mowers.
• Harrow.
• Seeder.
• Plow.
• Freight transport.
• Combine.
• Tractor.
• Volokusha and more.

Please note that a special barn will be required to store harvested grain crops.

Wheat varieties

Having selected the appropriate soil, you need to decide which type of grain crop to choose. It is necessary to select a variety based on the climatic conditions in which the wheat will grow. In addition, you need to know that wheat comes in feed varieties, that is, feed varieties, and food grades. What type of grain crops to choose in this case depends on the target audience of your enterprise. Some, trying to reach the maximum audience, grow both fodder and food varieties. But still, feed wheat demonstrates the greatest profitability.

In addition, it can be winter or spring, which determines the time of sowing: spring or late summer, autumn. The choice also depends on climatic conditions and soil characteristics.

On average, it is believed that about 100 kg of grain crops will be required per hectare. But the final value, again, depends on the quality of the soil, predecessor plants, and climatic conditions. A ton of seeds for sowing will cost an average of 6 thousand rubles. They need to be purchased from specialized companies, and then you can use your own planting material.

Soil preparation

In order for the profitability of the business to show good results, you need to know that wheat cannot produce high yields if it is sown every year in the same place. The ideal regime is to sow it on the same soil every four years. You can grow it in a row in one place for no more than two years. In order to maintain an ideal sowing regime, the available area is divided into four parts, three of which are sown with wheat, barley, and sunflower, respectively, and one fourth is left empty. Every year, each part is sown with a new crop. This is the only way to keep productivity high and reduce the number of pests.

Recruitment

Peasant farms will require special personnel to operate. Regardless of the size of the organization, the staffing table should include the following positions:

• Head of the enterprise.
• His deputy.
• Tractor-combiner driver.
• Combiner.
• Workers.

At least seven workers will be required, but these will be mostly seasonal employees. It is also desirable that the enterprise has an agronomist and a sales manager, but their functions can be performed by investors.

Price formation

The most difficult issue in growing grain crops is adequately pricing them. The price on the domestic market depends on how dry the season was and how high the harvest was. As a rule, in the southern regions it is easier to predict the level of price fluctuations than in the central ones.

But even in this case, domestic prices are influenced by world prices. They are formed based on the following factors:

• possible droughts in China;
• cold snaps in Europe;
• problems with winter varieties on the US domestic market.

Marketing plan

As already mentioned, the average cost of a ton of wheat or barley will be 6-10 thousand rubles. depending on the variety of grain crops, sunflower 15 thousand rubles. This amount can be increased by processing and preparing grain. But if the peasant farm is small, then introducing this stage into production is impractical. The price is also affected by the time of sale. For example, prices sometimes rise in the spring and fall in the fall.

From one hectare you can collect 15-40 centners of grain, in particular, about 12 centners of sunflowers. But the final figures are very dependent on the year's yield. Distribution channels must be taken care of in advance to ensure profitability of production.

Financial plan

To open a business you will need about 3.5 million rubles. With proper business organization, income should be about 2 million rubles every year.

The expenditure portion of the project will consist of the following indicators:

• salary – 300 thousand rubles;
• seeds – 100 thousand rubles;
• Fuel and lubricants and other materials – 500 thousand rubles;
• barn – 800 thousand rubles;
• equipment – ​​1,300 thousand rubles;
• land – 300 thousand rubles;
• unforeseen expenses - 200 thousand rubles.

In addition to these expense items, you will periodically have to allocate funds for chemicals, fertilizers, equipment maintenance, as well as office supplies, payment for utilities and communication services.

All this suggests that you should not expect profit in the first season. It will appear in the second or third year of operation of the enterprise.

Main risks

Organizing the work of an enterprise is associated with certain risks. It is impossible to foresee all of them. But there are several basic ones that almost all businessmen face:

1. A decrease in grain prices on the country's market if the year turns out to be very productive. Concluding futures contracts will help reduce this risk.
2. Equipment breakdown during the harvest period, which causes delays in delivery times. This risk can be reduced if you additionally provide for the possibility of renting agricultural equipment.
3. Loss of liquidity due to uneven sales. Therefore, it is better to provide for the possibility of early repayment of all payments, as well as options for deferring them.
4. Crop failure. The effect of this factor is reduced by crop insurance, as well as the formation of business plan calculations based on the minimum possible yield characteristic of a given region.

An important condition for obtaining a high yield of grain crops is the use of high-quality seed material (elite). Sowing of wheat should be carried out using quality seed material with high germination (within 90%). Quality grain is usually large with a minimal percentage of weed seeds.

Preparation of seed material begins after harvesting. Using special equipment, the grains are sorted into fractions and cleaned of debris. In the northern part of our country, the seeds do not have time to fully ripen, so they are additionally heated in the sun for a week or in a special room with a temperature of 20...30 degrees. Experts draw attention to the fact that the storage must have exhaust ventilation. Next, the seed material is disinfected to prevent exposure to diseases and pests. For this purpose, drugs such as Fundazol 50% concentration (2 kilograms of active substance per ton of grain) or Vitavax - 3 kilograms per ton of seeds are used.

Timing of sifting of winter wheat

For normal wintering of wheat, the plant should have 3 or 4 leaves before the average daily temperature drops to 5 degrees, so the crop in question is sown 50 days before this time. With early sowing, wheat yield decreases. When sowing is late, the crops do not have time to form a bush, in which case they do not overwinter well. Scientists recommend observing the following deadlines:

• northern part of Ukraine (Polesie) - from early to mid-September;
• central, southern and western regions of Ukraine (Forest-steppe and Steppe zone) - from September 5 to September 25;
• southern part of the Russian Federation - from mid-September to October 5.

It has been noted that wheat sowing rates depend on the germination and other characteristics of the seed material, the variety used and weather conditions in the growing region. It is known that the maximum productivity of grain crops is achieved with the simultaneous development of 300-400 plants per square meter. In areas with sufficient moisture, the wheat sowing rate is higher than in dry regions. For example, the recommended norm for Polesie is 5.5 million sprouted seeds per hectare; in the Steppe zone of Ukraine this figure is reduced to 4 million plants per hectare.

Sowing seeds can be done in several ways:

• line method, when 15 centimeters are left between rows of grain crops;
• narrow row - when a distance between rows of 7.5 centimeters is maintained.

The depth of seed placement depends on the type of soil. So, on soils with a light mechanical composition, the grains are buried by 5 centimeters; on heavy soils, the depth is reduced to 2 centimeters.

Sowing spring wheat

An important stage in sowing spring wheat is the preparation of seed material. For sowing, you need to select large, full-bodied seeds of the same variety with good germination and growth energy. You can increase the germination rate of grains by heating them in the sun for 3-5 days. After this, the seed material is pickled and dried.

Sowing dates for spring wheat

It is recommended to sow spring wheat varieties in early spring, when the soil warms up to 2 degrees Celsius or higher. Sowing should not be delayed or the grain should be sown too early. If you delay this work and sow spring wheat seeds in the last ten days of May or early June, then you should not expect a high harvest. This is due to the fact that young plants are exposed to hot June weather. Sowing grains early allows the plants to develop a strong root system and withstand drought. It has been experimentally established that the best time for sowing spring wheat is the first days of May. The consumption rate of seed material and the sowing method are similar to winter wheat varieties.