At the beginning of May there are suitable conditions for carrying out the seasonal agrotechnical activities

At the end of April and the beginning of May, a change in agrometeorological conditions is expected. The forecast rise in temperatures, combined with the improved soil moisture reserves from the previous period as a result of the recorded precipitation, will create conditions for an accelerated course of vegetation processes in agricultural crops.

During the period, wheat in Northern Bulgaria will be in the stem elongation stage, while in parts of Southern Bulgaria the heading stage will begin. In rapeseed stands in the Danubian Plain, the budding and flowering stages will take place, and in Southern Bulgaria flowering and pod formation will be observed on a mass scale. In the sown areas with sunflower, leaf formation will occur (formation of 1–2 pairs of true leaves). In maize, emergence and the beginning of leaf formation will be observed.

In winter cereal crops, during the stem elongation and heading stages, damage to plants is caused by the common cereal leaf beetle and the sunn pest. The stands should also be monitored for the occurrence and development of powdery mildew. When the development of diseases and pests exceeds the economic threshold of harmfulness, it is necessary to carry out pesticide treatments.

In fruit species, after the end of flowering, treatments with fungicides are carried out against blossom blight (early brown rot) in stone fruits, peach leaf curl, and scab in pome fruit species.

Favourable conditions for the implementation of seasonal agrotechnical activities (plant protection spraying, soil cultivation in orchards) will occur at the beginning and at the end of the period, when relatively more stable weather without precipitation is forecast.

Source: NIMH