Game browse and its impact on selected grain crops

Abstract

This work presents the results of a survey that studied simulated plant browsing by herbivores. In 2004–2006, winter wheat, spring barley, and maize field trials were founded in order to monitor the impact of different levels of defoliation (leaf area reduction) on the yield and grain quality. The defoliation was carried out by means of mechanical removal of plant parts in the early growth stages. Selected qualitative parameters were determined in the harvested grain of wheat and barley. Statistically significant influence of leaf area reduction (LAR) on grain yield (decrease by 4–14%) was found only in maize in 2004. No statistically significant influence of the leaf area reduction on thousand grain weight (TGW) was found in any of the studied crops. The leaf area reduction in barley did not affect grain characteristics; however, it had a statistically significant influence on the quality of wheat grain. Moreover, wheat reduction statistically significantly increased the falling number (by 29–39 s) and decreased SDS test values (by 8–9 ml).