Agrometeorological forecast for mid-January

The expected relatively dry weather during the period will be suitable for carrying out deep ploughing and inter-row cultivations in vineyards and orchards, which destroy a large part of the overwintering stages of numerous pests (weevils, moths, fruit sawflies, etc.). The forecast positive daytime temperatures will allow the implementation of winter plant protection spraying in orchards.

At the beginning of January, in some locations in Western Bulgaria (Vidin, Knezha, Dragoman, Sofia, Kyustendil) and in the Thracian Lowland (Plovdiv, Chirpan), minimum temperatures of around minus 10-11°C were recorded. These values, in conditions without snow cover and with a more prolonged persistence, are dangerous for late-sown winter crops overwintering at emergence and initial leaf development stages.

After the brief cold spell, during the following period the agrometeorological conditions will undergo a change. Above-normal temperatures are forecast until mid-January, but their average daily values will remain below the biological minimum required for the resumption of vegetative processes in winter cereal crops, and the stands will remain in a state of dormancy. 

No significant precipitation is forecast during the period, and the level of soil moisture reserves in winter cereal crops in the 50 and 100 cm layers will remain unusually low for the season – in some eastern regions below 60% of field capacity. At the beginning of winter, in years without autumn drought, soil moisture reserves in the 100 cm layer usually reach levels close to field capacity.

The expected relatively dry weather during the period will be suitable for carrying out deep ploughing and inter-row cultivations in vineyards and orchards, which destroy a large part of the overwintering stages of numerous pests (weevils, moths, fruit sawflies, etc.). The forecast positive daytime temperatures will allow the implementation of winter plant protection spraying in orchards.

Source: NIMH