Types of wheat classification: where it grows, what family it belongs to, description and meaning

Wheat is one of the oldest crops and the main type of cereal in many countries. Consider the classification of wheat, species, structure of the plant and ear, the history of growing crops and importance for agriculture. What are the characteristics and properties of wheat, what varieties and varieties are popular, where the crop grows and the main methods of its cultivation.

What is wheat

Wheat belongs to the family of cereals, perennial or annual, in cultivation an annual plant. When asked whether it is a grass or a shrub, it can be answered that it is a herbaceous plant that bushes and forms several stems.Wheat reproduces with the help of grain seeds, which are formed in spikelets collected in a straight and complex spike.

Wheat forms flowers in spikelets of 2-4 pieces, in total a different number of grains is formed, it is believed that the yield of cereal can be approximately determined by the number of fruits in an ear - how many grains are contained in an ear, so many centners per hectare can be collected. On average, 25-35 seeds are formed in one ear, but there may be more.

The importance of wheat for agriculture is enormous. From its grain, flour is obtained for baking bread, making pastries and pasta. Wheat is also used to feed animals and make alcoholic beverages from it.

Structure, ears of corn

The wheat plant grows up to 30-150 cm, it has erect hollow stems called culms. Leaves up to 20 mm wide, linear, flat, with bare or hairy surface, well developed root system.

Inflorescence - a straight compound spike, 3-15 cm long, consists of single spikelets, which are placed on the axis in two longitudinal rows. Spikelets sessile, 9-17 mm long, flowers with a short axis. Fruit - grains 5-10 mm long, oval, with a groove in the middle, with short hairs in the upper part. Starch grains are simple.

History

Wheat as a species and grain originates from the Middle East. In theory, based on a genetic comparison between wild and cultivated varieties, the area where wheat originated is located in southeastern Turkey. It is possible that domestication of wheat could have taken place in other regions, but there is no archaeological evidence for this, and besides, the wild variety does not grow everywhere.

Wheat is one of the first cultivated cereals, it began to be cultivated in the Neolithic. At first, apparently, not fully mature seeds were used for food, because mature seeds in the wild species crumble immediately after ripening. The plant was then gradually domesticated by selecting seeds that produced plants resistant to shedding.

The process of wheat selection was not focused and was not carried out systematically, so it took a long time. As a result of the research, it turned out that during the selection of the first varieties, the selection was carried out according to the resistance of plants to lodging, according to the strength of the spike, which should not have decayed, and according to the size of the grains. Flowers are pollinated by wheat on their own, so it does not need pollination by bees, wind, and even more so artificially.Consistent pollination helped the plants produce a good grain crop, which made it stand out in the crop.

Cultural life form of wheat from the zone of origin began to spread to other areas: to the countries of the Mediterranean, then came to India, Africa, Britain, China. On the American and Australian continents, wheat became known only in the 16th and 18th centuries.

Characteristics and properties of wheat

Culture has many varieties and varieties. In many countries, in addition to the standard, common varieties, there are also their own, local ones. Varieties differ in the shape and length of the stem, ear, grain size and even their chemical composition.

Real wheat and spelt belongs to wheat. They have different properties: wheat has an elastic and flexible straw that does not break during threshing.The ear is strong, the grains are easily separated from the flower films during threshing. The spelled straw is brittle, easily broken during threshing, the ear is not firmly attached to the straw. The grains are difficult to thresh, as they are firmly held by flower films. Soft wheats are spring and winter, awned and awnless, hard - awned and spring. Their awns can be 2-3 times the length of the ear.

Varieties of the plant differ in grain characteristics. This applies to the size, shape, thickness of grains, as well as their internal structure. The structure is defined by such a concept as vitreousness. If the bond between grain particles is strong, then it will be hard and brittle, transparent, yellowish in color, and break into pieces when broken. Such characteristics are typical for durum wheat.

The soft content of the grain is white, mealy, crumbly. There is also an average form, when the grain has a powdery core, and the contents of a partially soft, partially glassy structure are located around it.

Spring and winter

The main difference between these varieties is the growing season. For spring crops, it lasts, on average, 100 days, for winter crops - 280 days. Therefore, between the varieties of these varieties there is a difference in sowing dates: spring crops are sown in spring, winter crops in autumn.

Winter varieties are sensitive to nutrition in the tillering stage, at which time they should receive all the nutrients, if they are not enough, the yield will begin to decline.

Spring varieties are more sensitive to the weather and its changes, during the tillering period they need phosphorus. At this time, foliar top dressing can be carried out as an addition to the root. Plants especially need them in cold weather or drought conditions, they absorb nutrients well.If we compare the baking properties of flour from the grain of these varieties, then they are higher than that of winter flour. But they benefit from being more productive.

Soft and hard

The difference between soft and hard wheats is not only in the grain structure. In soft stems, the stem is thin-walled and hollow, in hard ones it is thick-walled and filled with a spongy mass. The ear of the first ones is shorter and wider, the second ones hold the grains stronger in the ear, which is an advantage and a disadvantage - they do not crumble when ripe, but it is also more difficult to thresh.

Moisture requirement

Lack of moisture affects the development of plants and their productivity. An increase in water production due to irrigation and precipitation is expressed in an increase in yield. It is estimated that for every 10 mm of moisture, plants are able to increase yield by 100-200 kg per hectare.

In different stages of growth, the need for moisture is different. During germination, seeds absorb moisture equal to half their own size. Improving its flow to the seeds is facilitated by soil compaction and its finely cloddy structure.

With a lack of moisture during the growth of the stems, they develop poorly, if the plant receives little water in the period from 3 leaves to the tube stage, only 1 stem can develop on it. During the formation of generative organs, moisture deficiency creates the prerequisites for the formation of a smaller number of spikelets, an empty lower part and top of the spike.

Frost resistance

Wheat develops optimally at a temperature of 10-24 °C. Deviations from the norm have a negative impact on the development and productivity of wheat. Plants are especially sensitive to sudden changes in temperature during the main stages of development.

Seeds and seedlings are resistant to cold, they sprout at a temperature just above zero.The leaves can tolerate temperatures of -7-9°C and even up to -12-18°C if they have been hardened. Young leaves are especially resistant to cold. Wheat roots can die at -3-5°C, but they are protected by the soil, so this rarely happens. Spikelets and flowers are damaged at -2-3 °C.

Preferred soil

Winter varieties are more demanding on the soil, especially its acidity. The best soils for it are chernozems and dark chestnut soils with a neutral or slightly acidic reaction. Spring wheats are not so demanding on soils, they can be grown on almost all types, except for acid ones.

Wheat Varieties

Winter varieties: Ilias, Lars, Bohemia, Alliance, Scepter, Vasilina, Ermak, Krasnodarskaya 99, Azure, Astet and others. These are soft varieties of the crop.

Spring varieties include Daria, Toma, Visa, Rassvet, Rosstan. Many varieties are resistant to harmful organisms - fungi, bacteria and pests.

Where it grows

Most of the wheat grown is in large countries - Russia, China and the United States. This is a raw material for processing into flour, grain is used as a fodder and industrial crop. It is used to make cereals (semolina, wheat, bulgur, couscous) and alcohol for the production of vodka and beer. Grain, green mass, straw and haylage are used for livestock feed. This makes growing wheat a zero-waste industry.

There are many varieties and varieties of wheat due to the fact that it is a popular crop and is grown on all continents. The classification divides the culture into spring and winter varieties, soft and hard, there are differences between them in the structure, characteristics, properties of the plants themselves and fruits. The features of cultivation technology and the quality of flour obtained from grain depend on them.