Influence of sowing dates and seeding rates on the yield of winter wheat in the conditions of the steppe zone of chernozem soils of the Volgograd region

Relevance and methodology. In the conditions of the arid steppe zone of the Volgograd region in the Elansky district in 2018–2021, we studied the effect of sowing dates and seeding rates of seeds of winter wheat Zernogradka 11 on productivity. Sowing dates and seeding rates are considered by various sources as two main factors in increasing grain yields without any additional economic costs. The predecessor was black bare . The technology of cultivation of the variety Zernogradka 11 in field experiments was according to B.A. Dospekhov and the method of state variety testing of agricultural crops. The experiments were carried out for 5 sowing dates (III decade of August; I, II, III decades of September and I decade of October) and seding rates period (4, 5 and 6 million pcs/ha). Seedlings, at different sowing dates, appeared at different intervals, which is associated with a changing temperature regime.Result. Based on the data obtained over the years of research it can be concluded that there is a decrease in productive stalk with advancement to later sowing dates. The highest yield was obtainedthen sowing in I decade of September. For other dates and seeding rates, except for the III decade of August, there was a noticeable decrease in indicators of the yield structure. The optimal seeding rate was found to be 5 and 6 million pcs/m2. Statistical processing of the obtained data was carried out and the dependence of the yield of winter wheat on sowing dates and seeding rates on average for 2018 — 2021 was revealed. It was found that the model describes the phenomenon well in almost all indicators, but the model of relationship between individual factors and the yield oneeds to be improved. The study showed that the influence of sowing dates and seeding rates are not sufficiently interconnected. 