The data on the pesticide application in Belarus are presented in the article. The research results on the study of the effect of crop rotations and soil cultivation on the phytosanitary state of agricultural crops are summarized. The importance of these agrotechniques for the optimization of the volumes of the pesticide use in the republic is estimated.

As the agricultural production moves toward the concentration and the use of short crop rotations saturated with staple crops, the problem of selection of right crops and the right crop alternation in such crop rotations taking into account species-specific requirements to growing conditions has become very urgent one. The results of the researchs conducted in 2005-2014 showed the efficiency of the alternation of agricultural crops of different biological groups (crop rotation). However, the yield of the studied crops depended not only on their location (alternation) in the crop rotations, but also on the types of the crop rotations and the concentration (saturation) of cereals.

The research results on the effect of soil cultivation minimization, sowing machines with active and passive modes of presowing soil cultivation, use of straw as fertlizer on winter triticale grain yield are presented in the article. It has been established that under the conditions of Gomel oblast on sod-podzol sandy loam soils in a cereal crop rotation link, winter triticale is advisable to be cultivated in the system of combined soil cultivation based on ploughing (biennially (66%) or triennially (34%)) alternating with surface (disk) soil cultivation on condition that ploughing is conducted under this cereal crop. The use of direct sowing technology without additional intensification means in the winter triticale cultivation is not acceptable due to significant yield decrease.

The research results on the study of the effect of basic soil cultivation methods on grain yield of barley sown with clover are presented in the article. It was established that on highly cultivated sod-podzol sandy loam soils, the highest grain yield was formed by barley using the combined soil cultivation (alternation of plowing and chiseling every other year) in a crop rotation. On midcultivated sandy loam soils, the replacement of plowing by chiseling did not cause significant differences in the barley grain yield. Surface cultivation and direct sowing of that crop into stubble contributed to grain yield decrease by 6.0 and 16.5%, respectively.

Cultivation technologies of barley used on the agricultural enterprises determine certain specificity of weed coenosis in crops in different regions of Belarus. Under the conditions of the central zone of Belarus, the specific composition of weeds is presented by 23 species belonging to 13 families. Among them, Asteraceae family (Compositae) prevails by the occurrence. The efficiency of the application of Prima, Balerina and Sekator Turbo for the destruction of such weed species as lambsquarter goosefoot, mayweed, perennial sow thistle, cleavers, chickweed, field pennycress is shown.

The results of the study of the effect of pre- and post-emergence application of such herbicides as Butisan Star SC, Nimbus CS, and Pronit EC on crop weediness and leaf mustard oilseed yield are presented. Biological efficiency of these herbicides at the pre-emergence application is 87.1-97.6% in terms of weed number and 88.2-99.4% in terms of their weight. The post-emergence application provides lower values of these parameters such as 71.8-88.7 and 86.8-93.5%, respectively. So, the pre-emergence use gives the yield increase of the oilseeds 1.5 times higher than the postemergence use.

The data on the influence of weed destruction techniques on field germination of seeds and survival of buckwheat plants are presented in the article. Application of pre-emergence herbicides lowered the field germination of seeds. The highest decrease of that parameter (54%) was registered when using the mixture of the preparations of Gesagard + Dialen Super (0.75+0.3 l/ha). Post-emergence harrowing decreased the survival of buckwheat plants to 54.0-58.0% depending on varieties. The pre-emergence use of such herbicides as Gesagard + Dialen Super (0.75+0.3 l/ha) and Butisan Star (1.5 l/ha) as well as the use of Betanal Expert OF + Lontrel 300 (0.75+0.22 l/ha) in the phase of the 1st true leaf and the application of the graminicides before buckwheat budding did not have the significant influence on the survival of the cultivated plants.

The research results on the study of the effect of herbicides and growth regulators on weediness and yield of sugar beet crops are presented in the article. It was established that the efficiency of the application of the growth regulators depended on weather conditions during the conducting of crop chemical weeding. On average for the period of the researches, the highest beet-root yield and estimated sugar yield were obtained when using Betanal Maxxpro and Goltix herbicides together with hydrohumate preparation and triple application of potassium humate or Black Jack.

The results of three-year researches on the effect of different kinds of herbicides and terms of their use on the yield and fiber quality of fiber flax var. Blakit are presented in the article. The researches were conducted on sod-podzol mid-loamy soils of Vitebsk oblast. It was established that the application of Callisto preparation (0.3-0.4 l/ha) before the emergence of sprouts and after the termination of the growing season provided the maximum yield increase of total and long fiber flax equaled to 0.8-0.9 and 0.7-0.8 t/ha, respectively. The use of Callisto preparation after the termination of the growing season provided biological efficiency at 93.7-94.4% level which exceeded its pre-emergence application by 9.1-10.6%.

The results of the study of the effect of seed treatment of barley and spring wheat on the reduction of frost harmfulness created in artificial conditions are presented in the article. The following conclusion has been made: the seed treatment of spring barley and wheat with the purpose of the reduction of frost negative impact on the crops is necessary.

The results of the influence of sowing of different seed fractions and the growth regulatory fungicide of Pictor on the formation of productivity of spring rape var. MBM are presented. It was established that the sowing of spring rape seed fractions to 2.5 and 2.6-3.5 g provided forming of the largest leaf surface and dry matter accumulation compared with other studied fractions. Pictor preparation gave the highest increase of biological yield at the sowing of seed fractions to 2.5 g.

The experimental data on the impact of various disinfectants used for treatment of soybean seeds on field germination, survival, plant height and grain yield are described in the article. It has been established that the use of such disinfectants as Maxim XL (2.0 l/t), Insure Perform (0.5 l/t), Bariton (1.5 l/t), Sertikor (1.5 l/t), and Celest Top (1.5 l/t) provides yield increase of soybean grain by 0.14-0.25 t/ha. The highest economic effect was obtained when using Bariton preparation (1.5 l/t).

The research results on the effect of seed treaters of different modes of action on flax fiber yield and quality of fiber flax var. Blakit under the conditions of sod-podzol mid-loamy soils of Vitebsk oblast are presented in the article. It was established that combined application of insecticides, fungicides and microelements in the seed treatment provided the highest retted straw yield increase of 2.4 t/ha, seed yield increase of 0.3 t/ha, total flax fiber yield increase of 1.2 t/ha, and long flax fiber yield increase of 0.97 t/ha.

The research results on the overview of sowing terms and rates are presented in the article. It was established that in the central agroclimatic zone of the Republic of Belarus due to the climate warming, the beginning of the optimal sowing term of winter wheat moved from September, 1 to September, 5-6 and at the same time the sowing rate reduced from 4.5 to 4.0 million seeds per hectare. Earlier sowing of the winter wheat on the soils with high level of fertility and using lower seed sowing rate (up to 3.5 million germinable seeds per ha) was also possible.

The effect of sowing terms and preceding crops (bare fallow and perennial leguminous grasses) on the yield structure formation of the early variety of Belotserkovskaya polukarlikovaya and the mid-early variety of Tsarevna at sowing in the second ten-day period of September and the first ten-day period f October was studied.

The research results on the effect of sowing terms on the hardiness of new winter wheat varieties are presented. It was established that the variety of Natalka was the most resistant to unfavourable wintering conditions, and the variety of Kolchuga was less resistant one. Winter wheat plants sown late (October, 10, 20) were more winter-hardy than the plants sown early. The lowest degree of winter wheat yield decrease in extreme conditions compared with the optimum ones (42.8%) was in Natalka variety sown on October, 20. In 2012, the average yield by the varieties and sowing terms amounted to 1.80 t/ha which was 3.56 t/ha lower than in 2013.

The research results on the study of the response of new recognized and appreciable spring soft wheat varieties and variety samples developed in RUE “Research and Practical Centre of NAS of Belarus for Arable Farming” to nitrogen fertilizers used at rates 100 and 160 kg/ha of active substance are presented in the article. The varieties and variety samples of spring wheat the most responsive to the nitrogen fertilizers were distinguished. The nature and correlation ratio of the pay of nitrogen unit cost by grain yield increase with the coefficient of photosynthesis economic effectiveness are shown.

The peculiarities of the dynamics of the formation of yield structure elements of winter barley grain var. Cindirella under the conditions of the central part of Belarus on well-cultivated sodpodzol sandy loam soils are discussed in the article. It is shown that in the years with favourable overwintering conditions and subject to compliance with all requirements of the process regulations of winter cereal crop cultivation, winter barley can form grain yield equaled to 5.5 t/ha and higher.

The results of the study of winter soft wheat variety samples in competitive variety trial using two levels of cultivation technology differed by nitrogen application in combination with the treatment by fungicides or growth regulators are analyzed in the article. It was established that on average for two years of the researches, all the studied variety samples provided a significant yield increase (0.3-1.9 t/ha) at the increasing of the intensification level. The ranking of the variety samples by the response to the intensification levels showed that the variety samples of 0318, 018/2, 0311, and 0584 were the most plastic ones.

The results of the study of the dependence of oat grain yield on the violation of sowing andharvesting terms are presented in the article. It has been established that at well-timed crop harvesting, oat yield losses caused by the delay with sowing from 10 to 20 days reach 1.3-3.2 t/ha or 18.3-44.5%. The 10-20 day delay with the harvesting of the timely sown crops leads to the losses of 0.5-1.3 t/ha of grain (6.9-18.3%). Compliance with the requirements of oat cultivation, optimal sowing and harvesting terms can save from 6.9 to 59.2% of the yield and increase the profit of the manufactured products by 0.6-4.8 million roubles per hectare.

The impact of plant density and sowing methods of spring vetch at growing with other crops for green fodder is substantiated. The indexes of photosynthetic productivity of the spring vetch are presented.

The results of seed incrustation of the buckwheat variety of Lakneya by such bioproducts as Rhizobacterin and Phytostimophos are presented. The efficiency of the combined use of these products against the middle background of the application of mineral nutrition (N₃₀P₃₀K₉₀) is shown. This affords to reduce the application rates of nitrogen and phosphate fertilizers without yield losses. It has been also established that the combined use of the products provides higher thousandkernel weight.

The analysis results of the shares of such basic agrotechnical techniques as sowing rates, sowing terms, and nitrogen fertilizer doses in different years of the researches and their impact on grain and herbage yield of fodder millet are presented. It is shown that in 2010, 2011, 2012 in Vitebsk region, the share of weather influence on herbage yield formation was 4.7% what was 5 times lower than the contribution of that factor to the grain yield. Interaction between the studied factors was 1.4 times higher at herbage development as compared to the same parameter at grain formation.

Research results on the study of the effect of basic cultivation agro techniques of Panicum italicum grown for grain on sod-podzol sandy loam soils in south-western part of the country are presented. It has been established that the highest grain yield (3.5 t/ha on average) is formed using wide-row sowing at sowing rate of 1.5 million viable seeds per hectare against the background of N₆₀P₆₀K₉₀. The influence of agricultural techniques on the Panicum italicum plant biometrics is shown.

The research results of the fodder efficiency of oat-legume mixtures at line production of green fodders are presented. The evaluation of the biological efficiency of oat grown with legumes is given.

The optimum doze of fertilizer for Western Polissia is N₃₀P₉₀K₁₂₀ + N₆₀ + N₆₀. It provides the highest yield of rapeseeds and, therefore, fat and protein yields. The varieties of Dembo and Chempion Ukrainy provided the highest yields of seeds. So, Dembo variety provided higher seed yield at earlier sowing terms, the varieties of Chempion Ukrainy and Chornyi velikan gave the highest seed yield at later sowing terms.

The research results of the evaluation of the spread and harmfulness of beet-root diseases in the growing season are presented in the article. The pathogens of beet-root diseases, areas of their spreading, and the harmfulness of stripline scab were revealed. Such virus-related disease as rhizomania was identified and its harmfulness was established.

The research results on the study of the effect of fungicides and micronutrients on the yield and quality of sugar beet are presented in the article. It has been established that at high content of micronutrients in the soil, the application of Amistar fungicide without Polycom Beet micronutrient fertilizer gives the greatest yield of the hybrid of Klarina. It is shown that the fungicide use impacts root quality more significantly than micronutrient application.

The results of the estimation of economic efficiency of the application of fungicides and Betaprotektin, F biopesticide in the period of sugar beet vegetation and at the dispatch of beet-roots for storage are presented in the article. The use of such fungicides as Impact, SC (0.5 l/ha) and Rex Duo, SC (0.6 l/ha) for the reduction of beet-root rot development in the period of vegetation is economically feasible. To control the beet-root rots on the crops intended for the dispatch for the longterm storage, the application of Betaprotektin, F biopesticide (1.0 l/ha) in the phase of 2-4 leaf pairs or before leaf closing in the rows is recommended. The complex use of Betaprotektin, F is also economically feasible in the period of vegetation (1.0 l/ha) and at the dispatch of beet-roots for storage (0.5 l/ha) if 5-25% of the surface of the beet-roots is injured.

The research results on the cultivation of forage sorghum for green fodder are presented in the article. The effect of seed sowing rates, methods of sowing and application of mineral fertilizers on the yields of herbage and dry matter has been established.

The data on the bacterial product use on Lotus corniculatus crops are presented in the article. The positive effect of the bacterial product of Kleverin on the field germination, viability, overwintering, plant height and yield of Lotus corniculatus one-year and two-year plants is shown. It has been established that the herbage and dry matter yields of swards sown by the seeds treated with Kleverin bacterial product are higher as compared to the control by 12.1-12.2%, and the postemergence use of Kleverin provides the yields higher by 10.6-10.9%.

Soybean grain yield depended to a great extent on the weather conditions in the period of vegetation, varietal differences and the efficiency of the relationship between microbes and plants. The use of Bradyrhizobium japonicum nodule bacteria in soybean cultivation contributed to yield increase in mid-early varieties and soybean expansion in the central part of Belarus.

For the first time under the conditions of the right bank forest-steppe of Ukraine, coenotical evaluation of mixed crops of Lotus corniculatus and perennial shortgrasses at pasturable use was conducted. The data of the criteria of their biological effectiveness by such parameters as land equivalent ratio (LER), coefficients of aggression (SA) and competitive ratios (CR) were obtained. The researches showed that grass-legume mixtures used the land area for the formation of pasture productivity by 1.1-2.0 times more effectively than single-species crops, but the effectiveness of their combined use depended on the proper selection of components and the settlement of their interspecific competition.

The research results of the carrying capacity of different alfalfa varieties using three cut system are presented in the article. The importance of record keeping of herbage yield per each cut for planning of forage conservation from different varieties is shown. It has been established that in three cut system, the share of the first cutting is the highest one (43.5-53.5%), the share of the second cutting is 33.5-38.9%, and the share of the third one makes up 7.6-20.4% in the total herbage yield for the period of vegetation. Sometimes the varieties of yellow-flowered group (var. Selyutinskaya) provide only 2 cuts.

The researches were conducted on sod-podzol sandy loam and loamy soils in three places of the Republic of Belarus (Minsk, Vitebsk, Pruzhany) in 2006-2012. Under the climatic conditions of Belarus, the use of festulolium in pasturable legume-grass mixtures made it possible to develop swards with 6-7 grazing cycles containing 27-38% of white clover in the 5th year and providing the yield of 8-9 t/ha of dry matter on the loamy soils and 5-6 t/ha on the sandy loam soils on average for 5 years.

The main way of seed productivity stabilization of red and white clover is the increase of inflorescence attraction ability by agrotechnical and breeding methods and redistribution of assimilate outflow in favour of filling seeds. A method of the selection of white clover plants with high seed productivity was developed. The method included the selection of separate forms by phenotypes and calculation of the formed complete seeds, differed by the fact that the plants were selected by the maximum ratio of the number of filled seeds to set fruits.

The increase of white clover, Swedish clover and alfalfa share in phytocenosis was registered at the moving of cattle to homogeneous feeding and from pasturable use of swards to cutting. It has been revealed that the application of additional N₃₀ before the 2nd-4th cuts increased sward yield by 15.8-18.1% as compared to the treatments with the application of only phosphorus and potassium fertilizers. The obtained plant raw material met with the requirements of high quality hay and silage preparation in terms of livestock quality parameters. The four-year swards with Swedish clover and alfalfa gave a higher income than the swards with white and Swedish clover. The profitability of forage production was 35.4-40.7% in terms of livestock products.

Predictive models of nitrogen content in plants of cereal crops are designed by near infrared spectra using the modified partial least square and artificial neural networks methods. On the basis of calibration characteristics and the results of their testing, the following conclusion can be made: the near infrared spectroscopy can be used for the determination of nitrogen content in plants of cereal crops.

The state of winter rye breeding in the Republic of Belarus is analyzed in the article. The main trends and tasks of breeding for the development of new highly productive, winter hardy varieties resistant to lodging and unfavourable environmental factors, and possessing improved technological grain qualities are determined.

In the article, the basic results of in vitro anther technology using for winter rye double haploids development are stated. All stages of anther technology were fulfilled. The most comprehensible artificial mediums for calluses formation were established. Double haploids were developed only at the use of the anthers of tetraploid rye variety Belaya Vezha. The study of the developed double haploids by seed-set of ear and by 1000 grains weight was carried out. The low ear seed-set (22.4%) on average for all samples was registered; the average 1000 grains weight was 16.2 g. The subsequent researches on the working out of ways to increase the efficiency of in vitro anther technology for rye are necessary.

The collection of CMS forms and inbred lines was studied. 30 best genotypes with a high degree of total combining ability were identified. Their morphological and agronomic characters were determined. Pair crossings of 20 MS-testers with 30 identified inbred lines were carried out. Sufficient quantities of hybrid combinations in breeding for heterosis were obtained. There were 30 sterile and 45 fertile combinations with a complex of agronomic characters among them. Their parental forms would be suitable for the development of new CMS systems such as MS-form + sterility fixing agent + fertility restorer.

Comparative study of adaptability parameters of different winter rye varieties passed state variety trials in 2009-20013 was conducted. Specific reactions of some varieties in the dynamics of that feature were revealed. Such appreciable varieties as Diva, Vesnyanka, LoBel-103 possessing a complex of valuable qualities of adaptability were identified.

The results of long-term researches on the spring barley gene pool at the V.N. Remeslo Myronivka Institute of Wheat of NAAS of Ukraine are presented in the paper. The spring barley collection including 1408 accessions from 52 countries worldwide has been formed. New sources of improved yield and adaptive potential, resistance to abiotic and biotic factors have been identified. It is shown that both simple and composite crossings of the collection accessions and the varieties developed on their basis, as well as the combination of hybridization and chemical mutagenesis have been effective when developing spring barley varieties.

The methods of the use of winter triticale and winter wheat in spring triticale breeding with the purpose of the increasing of its productivity are discussed in the article. The main issues of the transformation methods of triticale winter forms to spring ones are shown. The results of the selection of spring tranformants from winter triticale are presented. The characteristics of the best transformant lines by productivity, the indices of yield structure elements and grain quality are given.

As a result of the complex study of 43 spring triticale collection samples of different ecological and geographical origin by morphological and biological characters and grain quality, the sources with the high content of crude protein, crude gluten, starch, high yield, short-stalkness, early maturity, grain-unit, thousand-kernel weight were isolated for the purposeful use as initial material in breeding under the conditions of the Republic of Belarus.

The inheritance details of the character of “starch type in millet grain” and its correlation with other characters were studied. The genetic sources of amylopectin millet registered in the Bank of Genetic Resoursces of Ukraine was developed. The first amylopectin variety Shabanevske was registered in the State Register of Plant Varietes of Ukraine.

The results of the study of technological qualities of grain in winter wheat collection samples under the conditions of Gomel oblast are presented in the article. The varieties of Don 93, Sluga, Batuta, Fortuna, and Tonacja had the highest general bread assessment scores, such as 4.09, 4.06, 3.95, 3.94, and 3.93, respectively. The lowest scores were in the varieties of Ludvig (3.33), Dar Zernograda (3.38), Darota (3.41), and Batko (3.44). The varieties of Batuta, Don 93, Start, and Tonacja were distinguished by the complex of technological qualities. The varieties of Aktyor, Arina, Dar Zernograda, Darota, and Ludvig had the lowest complex technological bread assessment scores.

The results of the study of 145 collection samples of soft spring wheat of different ecological and geographical origin in 2012-2014 are given. The samples resistant to leaf fungal diseases (powdery mildew, leaf rust, Septoria leaf blotch) which can be involved in research and breeding programs as initial material for the improving of immunity in Forest-Steppe of Ukraine have been identified. Negative correlation between grain yield and resistance to leaf rust (r = -0.36±0.08), weak positive correlation concerning resistance to powdery mildew (r = 0.17±0.08) and Septoria leaf blotch (r = 0.28±0.08) were observed. Therefore, among genetic diversity around the world, breeders continually have been searching for the initial material and the sources of group resistance to fungal diseases.

The results of the study of 110 collection samples of spring durum wheat differed in ecological and geographical origin by yield structure elements are presented. The spring durum wheat samples which can be recommended for crosses as parental components with high productivity potential have been isolated. The level of variability of the yield structure elements has been revealed thus permitting to predict the reliability of selections by these parameters. The conducted correlation analysis showed that there was strong correlation dependence between the yield of the collection spring durum wheat samples and kernel number in an ear, and weak and medium correlation dependence was between the yield and other main quantitative characters.

Five-year (2010-2014) research results on the resistance of 167 collection samples from 20 countries of the world kept in the National Center of Plant Genetic Resources of Ukraine and resistant to the agents of smut, leaf diseases and inside stem pests are shown. Using infectious and provocative backgrounds, the sources with stable manifestation of the resistance to diseases and pests under different weather conditions have been isolated. In future, these sources will be used in breeding programs and genetic researches to develop resistant varieties.

As a result of the study of spring barley collection samples and summarizing of the obtained data, efficient sources by protein content, size and extractivity of grain for their purposeful use as initial material for the breeding of malting varieties were revealed.

The genetic analysis of spring and winter rape varieties by the results of seed protein electrophoresis is given in the article. It has been established that using this method, veracious differentiation of the varieties and hybrids compliant with their breeding background takes place.

The results of the study of the hybridity level effect of different maize types on maize productivity are presented in the article. Every percent of hybridity level decrease of maize seeds leads to grain yield losses by 0.051-0.081 t/ha and dry matter yield losses by 0.073-0.12 t/ha depending on hybrid types.

The collection of Alopecurus pratensis was studied. Variety samples with high growth rates were isolated. Alopecurus pratensis varieties with high forage and seed productivity which were gene sources of agronomic characters for the breeding of Alopecurus pratensis with stable seed productivity were revealed.

The results of the conducted researches on the improvement of the sowing qualities of uncalibrated sugar beet seeds depending on the stimulation method by the removing of the fragile layers of the pericarp which is achieved by polishing are presented in the article. It is established that such stimulation method provides the improvement of biological (germination energy, germinability) and physical (ratio of the actual seed weight to the pericarp weight, coefficient of roundness, injury) properties of the seeds of diploid hybrids.