January – suitable conditions for winter pruning of fruit crops

At the beginning of January 2022, the agrometeorological conditions will be determined by temperatures that are high for the season and by average daily values in most of the arable areas of the country, close to the biological minimum required for the resumption of vegetative processes in winter cereal crops. In the extreme southern and southeastern regions, conditions will be created for a weakly expressed vegetation in the autumn-sown crops, but this will not lead to a change in the phenological state of the crops. The wheat and barley stands have entered the winter in different growth stages. The late-sown winter cereal crops, sown at the end of autumn in the agro-meteorological stations Buzovets, Nikolaevo, Kazanlak, Kyustendil, Chirpan, Haskovo and Sliven, are in the emergence stage. In the November-sown stands in Kneja, Targovishte and Pazardzhik, the third-leaf stage predominates. In the tillering stage, which is the suitable stage for overwintering, are the autumn-sown crops sown within the agrotechnical term in the agro-meteorological stations Novachene, Pavlikeni, Plovdiv, Lyubimets, Yambol, Provadia, D. Chiflik and Karnobat. At the end of the first week of January, the agrometeorological conditions will undergo a change. The expected cooling will prevent the undesirable vegetation of the winter cereal crops, which would lead to muddiness of the stands and a decrease in their winter hardiness.

During the second and third ten-day periods, the agrometeorological conditions will be determined by temperatures close to the climatic norms and will maintain the autumn-sown stands in dormancy. During the month, the forecast minimum temperatures, between minus 10-15°C, in conditions without snow cover and with a more prolonged persistence, will pose a risk of winterkill to the late-sown stands. Values below minus 10°C are critical for winter cereal crops in the emergence stage, and below minus 13°C also for those in the third-leaf stage.

The expected near-normal for the month precipitation in January will increase the soil moisture reserves in the one-meter and two-meter layers. At the end of December, the soil moisture reserves for wheat in the one-meter soil layer in most of the arable areas were above 90% of field capacity.

In January, more suitable conditions for conducting winter pruning of fruit crops will occur at the end of the second and during most days of the third ten-day period.

Source: NIMH