The incidence of fusarium foot-rot occurrence on the winter wheat cultivars Roma and Sakwa was examined in the years 2001–2003. Strict plot experiments were set up by the method of random sub-blocks in Tomaszkowo near Olsztyn. Fungicides were applied on the growing plants during the periods of shooting and heading. The control plots were sprayed with water. The sanitary state of leaf sheaths was evaluated at heading phase (GS 55). The symptoms of fusarium foot-rot were examined at the phase of milky maturity (GS 75) and waxy maturity of grain (GS 87). The study aimed at assessing the average index of infection of the winter wheat stem base caused by the species of Fusarium genus, assessing the vulnerability of the Roma and Sakwa cultivars to these fungi and determining the effectiveness of pesticides in control of fusarium foot-rot. Fusarium foot-rot (Fusarium spp.) of winter wheat dominated on the winter wheat stem base. Most of the examined stems were severely infected. The Roma cultivar was more susceptible to infection by Fusarium fungi than the Sakwa cultivar. The effectiveness of fungicides in controlling fusarium foot-rot on the winter wheat was satisfactory, but largely depended on the cultivar and weather conditions. Mirage 450EC and Sportak Alpha 380EC fungicides were the most effective. The species F. culmorum and F. avenaceum dominated in the fungal populations colonizing the stem base of winter wheat with visible symptoms typical of fusarium foot-rot.

Wheat grain discoloration, a worldwide disease that lowers grain quality and decreases grain yield, does not have a single etiology. It has been proposed that it is a consequence of an abiotic mechanism, a response to environmental conditions or enzymatic activity. It has also been suggest that it is a biotic mechanism, a fungal infection principally by Alternaria spp. and Bipolaris sorokiniana. The present work was carried out to analyze the possible etiology of this disease in nine durum wheat genotypes from two localities of southern Buenos Aires province (Argentina) on two sowing dates. Incidence (percentage of grain discoloration) was recorded and mycobiota associated with this pathology was registered following ISTA rules. Peroxidase activity in an extract obtained from grains belonging to genotypes of the locality that showed the highest incidence was measured.

The incidence among genotypes, localities and sowing dates varied, although the genotypes with the higher and lower values of incidence were the same for all the variables tested. The fungus Alternaria spp. was isolated the most frequently followed by Fusarium spp., while Bipolaris sorokiniana was found the least frequently. Peroxidase activity showed that all the treatments had similar levels of enzymatic activity, but there was no clear differentiation between controls either between genotypes with the lowest or the highest incidence values. This suggests that peroxidase activity did not have a clear relationship with grain discoloration. In this research, it is presumed that fungal infection is the main cause of this disease.

Surface wastewater pollution due to accidental runoff or release of oil or its products is a longstanding and common environmental problem. The aim of the study was to investigate the impact of concentrations of oil products (diesel) and suspended solids, the sorbent type, the water flow rate and the interfering factors (chlorides) on the dynamic sorption of diesel and to test regeneration of polypropylene after its use for sorption. The sorbents used for study included common wheat straw (Triticum aestivum), polypropylene and sorbents modified with hydrogen peroxide solution. Standard methods were used for the determination of the investigated parameters and an in-house procedure employing a gas chromatograph was used for the determination of diesel concentration. The following factors that impact the sorption of diesel were investigated during the study: diesel concentration, concentration of suspended solids; type of sorbent (common wheat straw (Triticum aestivum), wheat straw modified with hydrogen peroxide, and polypropylene), water flow rate; and influence of the interfering factors (chlorides). Filtration speed in the range of investigated speeds does not affect the efficiency of diesel removal. Removal efficiency does not depend on the concentration of diesel before the sorbent reaches its maximum sorption capacity. Filling containing 50% of polypropylene and 50% of wheat straw was used for the study. It was found that polypropylene and wheat straw do not remove chlorides and suspended solids from solution. The study found that the solution of hydrogen peroxide boosts the hydrophobic properties of common wheat straw, but does not affect the sorption of diesel. The recommended number of regenerations of polypropylene should be limited to two.

Nanotechnology is a manipulation of nature that has emerged through the use of basic sciences, material science and engineering at the nano-scale. The interaction between biological environment and nanoparticles-nanoparticles or nanoparticles-organic materials is not yet well-understood. The toxic effects of nanoparticles on plants were investigated and it was proved that they caused morphological and physiological changes in plants. This study aimed to determine the effects of TiO -TiO₂Ag nanoparticles, and co-application of EDDS-TiO₂Ag nanoparticles alone, co-application of ZnO nanoparticles- Ag nanoparticles on seed germination, seedling vigor, radicle and plumule elongation of two different wheat species. In the experimental stage, ten seeds were placed in petri-dishes with a double layer of fi lter paper which was used as an inert material. Then 5 mL of TiO₂Ag, ZnO+TiO₂Ag, and EDDS+TiO₂Ag suspensions were added to every petri dish. Results showed that the maximum SVI was determined at the concentration of 50 mg∙L^-1 TiO₂ Ag+EDDS for bread wheat and the minimum SVI was observed at 100 mg∙L^-1 TiO₂Ag nanoparticles concentration for durum wheat. The effect of both nanoparticles-nanoparticles interaction and the other chemicals-nanoparticles interaction on the ecosystems should be evaluated.

The objective of the study was to determine the effect of leaf wetness period and air temperature on development of disease symptoms caused by Puccinia recondita on winter wheat. The experiments were carried out in growth chamber at the Institute of Plant Protection in Poznań. Seedlings of a susceptible winter wheat cultivar Mikon, were artificially inoculated with urediniospores of P. recondita and incubated in temperature of 15 and 20°C. The period of duration of leaf wetness varied from 2 to 14 hours. Disease symptoms on seedlings at 20°C appeared 7 days after inoculation. Reduction of temperature to 15°C resulted in the elongation of latency period to 8 days. The relationship between leaf wetness period and disease symptoms severity was also observed. The gratest number of urediniospores in both tested temperatures were observed on plants exposed to 14 hours of leaf wetness. In temperature of 20°C 4 hours of wetness duration was enough to guarantee infection and the appearance of P. recondita pustules, whereas in 15°C at least 10 hours of wet period was needed to cause disease symptoms development. The experimental results were used to produce two equations describing relation between leaf wetness and symptoms development in tested temperatures.

Plants under attack of herbivores can emit increased amounts of volatile compounds from their leaves. Similarly, mechanically-injured plants can emit volatile chemicals that differ both quantitatively and qualitatively from undamaged plants. In this experiment, mechanical injury increased the release of the secondary metabolites linalool (3,7-dimethyl-1,6-octadien-3-ol) and linalool oxide (5-ethenyltetrahydro-2-furanmethanol) by wheat plants. The amounts released varied significantly with injury type and the period of time after injury. The time interval for the volatile collection within the photophase also influenced the amount collected for each day. The increased emission of these compounds, as a result of injury, may be explained as a defense mechanism against wounding. The role of these plant volatiles can be further investigated in the context of plant response to mechanical injury, within the broader context of all types of injury.

Cereal cyst nematodes (Heterodera spp.) are distributed globally and cause severe production losses of small grain cereals. To investigate the occurrence of cereal cyst nematodes in wheat-growing areas of Algeria, a survey was conducted and 27 cereal cyst nematode populations were collected. The populations were initially identified based on their morphological and morphometric characters, followed by molecular methods using speciesspecific primers, complemented by ITS-rDNA sequences. The morphological and morphometric features of second-stage juveniles (J2s) and cysts supported the presence of three Heterodera species: H. avenae, H. filipjevi and H. hordecalis. All morphological values of these distinct populations were very similar to those previously described for these species. Using species-specific primers for H. avenae and H. filipjevi, the specific bands of 109 bp and 646 bp confirmed the morphological identification of both species, respectively. In addition, the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions were sequenced to study the diversity of the 27 populations. These sequences were compared with those of Heterodera species available in the GenBank database (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov) and re-confirmed the identity of the species. Nineteen sequences of ITS-rDNA were similar (99–100%) to the sequences of H. avenae published in the GenBank, six sequences were similar (99–100%) to H. hordecalis, and two were similar (98–99%) to H. filipjevi. The results of this study are of great value to breeding programs and extension services, where they will contribute to the design of control measures to keep damaging nematodes in check.

Redroot pigweed (Amaranthus retroflexus L). is a broadleaf weed in autumn crop fields in Russia. Four field experiments were performed in Stalskiy region, southern Russia in two growing seasons, 2016 and 2017, to investigate the effects of postemergence applications of applied alone or in tank mixtures in winter wheat cultivars Tanya and Bagrat. Redroot pigweed control was greatest with tribenuron and all herbicide treatments containing tribenuron. The lowest redroot pigweed control was with aminopyralid/florasulam (study 1) and triasulfuron (study 2), respectively, whereas redroot pigweed had intermediate responses to the other examined herbicides. Tribenuron plus fluroxypyr sprayed on wheat cultivar ‘Tanya’, and tribenuron plus triasulfuron on wheat cultivar ‘Bagrat’ resulted in increased wheat grain yields. Overall, tribenuron and herbicides containing tribenuron provided the most efficient redroot pigweed control compared with the other herbicides and consistently maintained optimal winter wheat yields. Tribenuron could ameliorate redroot resistance to herbicides in wheat fields in southern Russia.

Gene postulation is one of the fastest and most cost-effective methods for identifying seedling leaf rust resistance genes in wheat cultivars. Many researchers use this approach to identify Lr genes in wheat cultivars. The purpose of our research was to identify seedling leaf rust resistance genes in 20 wheat cultivars from different breeding centers of Russia, Ukraine and Germany. Forty-two near isogenic Thatcher lines and 10 Puccinia triticina isolates were used for gene postulation. When assessing the infection types to cultivars and lines, a scale was used, according to Oelke and Kolmer. In 20 wheat cultivars 19 Lr genes were postulated: 2c, 3, 10, 3bg, 3ka, 14a, 17, 18, 23, 25, 26, 30, 33, 40, 44, 50, B, Exch, Kanred. The most common for cultivars was the Lr10 gene. In five cultivars, showing high field resistance, most postulated seedling genes (Lr2c, Lr3, Lr10, Lr14а, Lr26, Lr33) were not effective in the adult stage. It is possible that resistance of such cultivars is associated with APR genes, the postulation of which requires an expansion in the number and spectrum of P. triticina isolate virulence. Most of the studied cultivars (60%) have recently been entered into the register (2015–2019) and in the field show a stable or moderately susceptible response to P. triticina infection, despite the fact that the Lr genes postulated in them were not effective in the adult stage. The data obtained indicated a variety of genotypes of the studied cultivars, as well as the tendency of breeders to use the effect of pyramiding ineffective genes, which can prolong the resistance of the cultivar. Annual monitoring of varieties is necessary in each region, especially when reacting with a medium susceptible type (MS), which may indicate the initial stage of resistance loss.

Tan spot, caused by Pyrenophora tritici-repentis (Ptr), is a worrisome destructive foliar disease of wheat-growing areas around the world. Streptomyces spp. have been investigated as biocontrol agents because they beneficially interact with host plants and produce important bioactive substances that can act in the suppression of diseases in plants. In the present study, antifungal activity and plant growth-promoting of Streptomyces spp. strains 6(4), R18(6), and their consortium, were evaluated through in vitro and greenhouse assays. The Ultra High-Performance Liquid Chromatography-Quadrupole Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry (UHPLC-QTOF MS) technique was used to analyze the crude extract of each strain. The results of the in vitro tests showed that the 6(4) metabolites caused several abnormalities in the conidial germination of Ptr. This strain also produced indole acetic acid (IAA) and siderophores. Strain R18(6) did not alter conidial germination of Ptr, and produced IAA and phosphate solubilizers. In the greenhouse, the treatment ‘seed inoculation plus foliar spray’ with streptomycetes propagules and metabolites contributed to biomass gain, with no statistical difference between the strains ( p < 0.05). Treatments with 6(4) ‘seed inoculation’, ‘seed inoculation plus foliar spray’, and consortium ‘seed inoculation’ showed the lowest percentage of injured area compared to other treatments ( p < 0.05). UHPLC-QTOF MS data showed that erucamide is present in the culture of 6(4), but not in the culture of R18(6). Therefore, this substance is one of those involved in Ptr hyphal abnormalities, and R18(6) use indirect mechanisms of action to control Ptr. We concluded that these Streptomyces spp. and their metabolites have a promising potential for biological control of Ptr to protect wheat plants from tan spot damage.

All plants contain varying levels of phenolic acids (metabolites) thus playing an important role in resistance mechanisms as constituents of cell walls, as constitutive antimicrobial compounds of plants or induced in response to infection against many diseases, in particular fusarium head blight caused by Fusarium species. To this end, the objective of this research was to study the variation in phenolic acid composition during the kinetics of filling wheat grains, in order to determine the best variety resistant to fusarium head blight. For this purpose, free and bound phenolic analyses were carried out by HPLC-DAD on five durum wheat varieties at the stage 5 to 8 days after the flowering stage (early grains). We showed that at the level of the samples analyzed, several phenolic acids were present at different concentrations, but others were absent [ cis-ferulic acid (free phenolic acid), and sinapic acid (bound phenolic acid)]. The results also showed that the content of bound phenolic acids was much higher than that of free phenolic acids in all varieties. In addition, these phenolic acids existed in free soluble form or were mostly present in insoluble form bound to cell walls. For free acids, the results showed that significant amounts of transferulic acid were detected in comparison to all free phenolic acids (56.72 μg · g ^–1 DM for G10). For bound acids, ferulic acid is the main bound phenolic acid which has much higher levels (4913.92 μg · g ^–1 DM for G1), followed by p-coumaric acid (3098.99 μg · g–1 DM for G1). Moreover, the sum of monomers (bound acids) was much higher than that of dehydrodiferulic acids (DiFA).

Scarcity of fresh water resources is the major constraint for agricultural development in Iran as in many other regions with arid and semi-arid climate. With the pressure on fresh water resources, the use of un-conventional water resources including brackish, saline and sewage water has received greater attentions in recent years. The objective of this study was to assess the impact of farmers' practices using saline groundwater on wheat yield and soil salinity in a Mediterranean cli-mate of Fars province in southern Iran. The study was carried out in several commercial wheat production regions for two years. Chemical analysis of irrigation waters, volume of applied irrigation water, electrical conductivity of soil saturation extract (ECe) and yield were measured in each field. General information on agronomic practices was also collected using a questionnaire. Results demonstrate that waters with salinities higher than what has been classified as “suitable for irriga-tion” are being used for the production of wheat crop. Analysis of wheat yield response to saline irrigation water showed that for water salinities up to 10.7 mS∙cm–1 (threshold value) variation in yield was relatively minor, above which wheat yield decreased at a greater rate. Root zone salinity profiles showed the effect of winter rainfall in reducing soil salinity. It is concluded that although acceptable yields are obtained with some of the highly brackish waters, over application of these waters would threaten the sustainability of crop production in the region.

The level of wheat grain contamination with lead and cadmium was determined using electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry with Zeeman background correction (ETAAS) after microwave digestion. The obtained limits of quantification were 0.001 mg∙kg–1, for both metals. A total of 300 samples of wheat grain from agricultural regions of Poland were examined, 150 each from the two consecutive harvest years 2017 and 2018.
None of the tested samples exceeded the maximum level of these metals, as specified in the European regulations. The contents of lead and cadmium in wheat grain from both years of harvest ranged from <0.001 to 0.098 mg∙kg ^–1 and from 0.006 to 0.098 mg∙kg ^–1, respectively. Despite similar ranges of these metals, the highest lead contents were two times lower than the maximum limit value, while the highest cadmium contents were close to it.
As for lead, a significantly higher (p < 0.05) mean content of this metal was found in wheat grain from the 2018 harvest compared to 2017 and in the western compared to eastern regions of the country. However, the cadmium contents did not differ significantly between the two harvest years, but were significantly higher (p < 0.05) in wheat grain from the southern regions compared to northern regions of Poland. Additionally, the highest contents of cadmium, close to the maximum limit, were found in the South-West region and in the both years of harvest.
The risk analysis of the occurrence of the excessive contents of toxic metals in wheat grain showed a low risk level for lead in all investigated regions, and a medium level for cadmium, in general.

In many regions of the world, including Egypt, water shortages threaten food production. An irrigation deficient strategy in dry areas has been widely investigated as a valuable and sustainable approach to production. In this study, the dry matter and grain yield of wheat was decreased by reducing the amount of irrigation water as well as the volume of the root system. As a result of this, there was an increase the soil moisture stress. This negatively affected the absorption of water and nutrients in the root zone of wheat plants, which ultimately had an effect on the dry matter and grain yield of wheat. The values of dry matter and grain yield of wheat increased with the ʻSakha 94ʼ variety compared to the ʻSakha 93ʼ class. It is possible that this was due to the increase in the genetic characteristic of the root size with the ʻSakha 94ʼ variety compared to the ʻSakha 93ʼ class, as this increase led to the absorption of water and nutrients from a larger volume of root spread. Despite being able to increase the water productivity of wheat by decreasing the amount of added irrigation water, the two highest grain yield values were achieved when adding 100% and 80% of irrigation requirements ( IR) needed to irrigate the wheat and no signif-icant differences between the yield values at 100% and 80% of IR were found. Therefore, in accordance with this study, the recommended irrigation for wheat is at 80% IR which will provide 20% IR. When comparing the water productivity of two wheat varieties in study, it becomes clear that ʻSakha 94ʼ was superior to ʻSakha 93ʼ when adding the same amount of irrigation water, and this resulted in increased wheat productivity for ʻSakha 94ʼ. The SALTMED results confirmed good accuracy (R2: 0.92 to 0.98) in simulating soil moisture, roots volume, water application efficiency, dry matter, and grain yield for two varieties of wheat under deficit irrigation conditions. Whilst using sprinkler irrigation system under sandy soils in Egypt.

The research was conducted in Tartous Governorate during the two agricultural seasons (2018–2019 and 2019–2020) under control conditions, the aim of the research is to study the relationship between the productivity of five promising strains of bread wheat (‘ACSAD 1256’, ‘Douma 58847’, ‘Douma 58585’, ‘Douma 64453’, ‘ACSAD 1149’) and two cultivars (‘Douma 2’ and ‘Douma 4’) and some quantitative indicators of drought: stress tolerance index ( STI), mean of productivity ( MP), modified stress tolerance index ( MSTI), and relative yield ( RY).
Cultivation was carried out in pots filled with light sandy silty soil, and three treatments of 70, 50, and 30% of the field capacity were applied in addition to the control and with three replications for each treatment.
The strains ‘Douma 58585’ and ‘Douma 58847’ gave high yield values for grain in the two agricultural seasons. It was also found that there were significant differences between the two seasons in yield between the control and drought stress factors and drought tolerance indicators, such as stress tolerance index, modified stress tolerance index ( MSTI), mean of productivity ( MP), and relative yield ( RY).
On the other hand, a positive and strong relationship was found between STI, MSTI, and MP in both treatments and both seasons. The research concluded that the best indicators, which were related to the productivity, whether in the control or transactions and in the two growing seasons together, are STI and MP, which are promising indicators in the classification of stress-tolerant cultivars or strains.

Our study involved the first-ever evaluation of the performance of anther culture and wheat × maize hybridization techniques in producing haploids or doubled haploids as a result of spontaneous doubling of the chromosome number during androgenesis in plants from 30 wheat genotypes including ancient, local and modern types. The results indicated that the best induction rates of androgenic structures and haploid embryos for the hexaploid and tetraploid wheat genotypes were obtained with anther culture and wheat × maize hybridization, respectively. Whereas only one regenerated plant from 15 genotypes of tetraploid wheat was obtained, 13 plants were regenerated from 15 genotypes of hexaploid wheat. Moreover, haploid embryos obtained in wheat × maize hybridization 60 and 100% green plants regenerated in relation to the number of the cultured haploid embryos. Genotypes with high induction capacity to produce androgenic structure or haploid embryos did not have desired haploid plantlets regeneration capacity and vice-versa. However, with both methods, hexaploid wheat genotypes had a considerable ability to produce green plants. Doubled haploid plants were obtained from ancient and local wheat genotypes by both methods, but not from modern wheat. Those genotypes can be used as parents in future wheat breeding programs and new varieties may be obtained by selecting pure lines in wheat populations

Using in vitro androgenesis serves as a unique opportunity to produce doubled haploid (DH) plants in many species. More benefits of this biological phenomenon have kept these methods in the focus of fundamental research and crop breeding for decades. In common wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), in vitro anther culture is one of the most frequently applied DH plant production methods. The efficiency of in vitro wheat anther culture is influenced by many factors, such as the genotype, growing conditions, collection time, pre-treatments, and compositions of media and culture conditions. According to some critical review, the genotype dependency, low efficiency and albinism are mentioned as limitations of application of the anther culture method. However, some research groups have made significant efforts to diminish the effects of these bottlenecks. Due to the improvements, a well-established in vitro anther culture method can be an efficient tool in modern wheat breeding programs.

The aim of the research was to analyze the degree of infection of winter wheat by fungal diseases and to evaluate the morphological and physiological parameters of plants depending on varied foliar fertilization (with and without the ionic form of silver) and applied plant protection agents (active ingredients: propiconazole, fenpropidin, azoxystrobin) in the 2016/2017, 2017/2018 and 2018/2019 growing seasons. The results showed that micronutrient fertilizers with silver and pesticides reduced the severity of fungal diseases better than the control. In most cases, foliar fertilizers enriched with the ionic form of silver at a dose of 1 and 2 l · ha ⁻¹ were the most effective. Moreover, foliar fertilization and pesticides had a positive effect on the morphology of wheat. Combined treatment (micronutrient fertilizer with silver and pesticide at a dose of 1 l · ha ⁻¹) increased stalk length and weight, ear weight and thousand grain weight to the greatest extent in comparison to the other treatments, while the pesticides stimulated ear length the most. In turn, microelement fertilizers with silver at a dose of 1 and 2 l · ha ⁻¹ were better in terms of flag leaf length. Wheat treated with foliar fertilizer and pesticide significantly improved the chlorophyll content based on the leaf greenness index (SPAD). It was found that the foliar application of microelements with silver is promising for use in agriculture because they controlled fungal diseases and ensured the good condition of plants more effectively than pesticides harmful to the environment.

In the present study, the enrichment and isolation of textile effluent decolorizing bacteria were carried out in wheat bran (WB) medium. The isolated bacterium Providencia rettgeri strain HSL1 was then tested for decolorization of textile effluent in consortium with a dyestuff degrading fungus Aspergillus ochraceus NCIM 1146. Decolorization study suggests that A. ochraceus NCIM 1146 and P. rettgeri strain HSL1 alone re moves only 6 and 32% of textile effluent American Dye Manufacturing Institute respectively in 30 h at 30 ±0.2°C of microaerophilic incubation, while the fungal-bacterial consortium does 92% ADMI removal within the same time period. The fungal-bacterial consortium exhibited enhanced decolorization rate due to the induction in activities of catalytic enzymes laccase (196%), lignin peroxidase (77%), azoreductase (80%) and NADH-DCIP reductase (84%). The HPLC analysis confirmed the biodegradation of textile effluent into various metabolites. Detoxification studies of textile effluent before and after treatment with fungal-bacterial consortium revealed reduced toxicity of degradation metabolites. The efficient degradation and detoxification by fungal-bacterial consortium pre-grown in agricultural based medium thus suggest a promising approach in designing low-cost treatment technologies for textile effluent.

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of different zinc and iron concentrations in culture

medium on growth and development of maize and wheat seedlings in terms of their inoculation with bacteria of

Azospirillum genus. Maize and wheat in vitro cultures were inoculated, respectively, by strains of Azospirillum

lipoferum and Azospirillum brasilense strains. The experimental factor was the supplementation of the culture

medium with zinc (25, 200 and 600 mg·kg-1 of the medium) and iron (25, 200 and 600 mg·kg-1 of the medium).

Counts of bacteria from the Azospirillum genus were analysed and plant seedling growth and development as

well as the content of chlorophyll in plant leaf blades were monitored.

Zinc turned out to reduce strongly numbers of bacteria of the Azospirillum genus. Azospirillum brasilense

turned out to be particularly sensitive to elevated levels of this chemical element in the environment. The negative influence of increased quantities of zinc on cereal seedlings became apparent only after the application of

the highest concentrations of this metal in the medium (600 mg·kg-1), while quantities which did not exceed

200 mg·kg-1 exerted a stimulation effect on the mass of maize and wheat seedlings.

Iron added to the culture medium in quantities which did not exceed 200 mg·kg-1 did not reduce numbers of

bacteria of the Azospirillum genus; on the contrary, they stimulated their growth. However, at higher concentrations, this metal turned out to exert a strong negative impact on the chlorophyll content in leaf blades as well as

on the mass of maize and wheat seedlings.

The inoculation with bacteria of the Azospirillum genus exerted a positive influence on the mass increase of

maize and wheat seedlings and increased chlorophyll concentrations in leaf blades. At the same time, it contributed significantly to limiting or even levelling out the toxic impact of zinc and iron during the initial phases of

plant growth and development.

The effect of biopreparation Biochikol 020 PC on linear growth of mycelia of two Rhizoctonia isolates was tested under laboratory conditions along with that of fungicide Baytan Universal 19,5 WS for comparative purposes. Complete retardation of mycelial growth of both isolates was observed in case the application of fungicide Baytan Universal 19,5 WS at the concentration of 0.1% and a considerable growth inhibition was stated at the temperatures of 10°C and 30°C. The effect of seed dressing with the above mentioned preparations on plant infestation by Rhizoctonia fungi was tested in a greenhouse experiment on two cultivars of spring wheat: Banti and Ismena. Baytan Universal 19,5 WS reduced plant infestation especially at the highest soil moisture content of 20 kPa. Biopreparation Biochikol 020 PC and diversification of soil moisture levels did not result in a reduction of wheat infestation rate. This biopreparation stimulated the increase of root mass of both cultivars at moisture content of 20 kPa.

The experiment was conducted in the years 2001–2003 at the Experimental Station in Złotniki. The aim of the performed investigations was to evaluate economic effectiveness of different fungicidal protection programs in winter wheat. Winter wheat of cv. Sakwa was cultivated using the following two variants of seed treatment: 1) Raxil 060 FS at the dose of 60 ml/100 kg grain, 2) Raxil 060 FS + Latitude 125 FS at the doses of 60 and 200 ml/100 kg, and five variants of fungicidal foliar protection: 1) Vista 228 SE, 2) Sportak Alpha 380 EC, 3) Sportak Alpha 380 EC + Vista 228 SE, 4) Sportak Alpha 380 EC + Vista 228 SE + Juwel 250 SC, 5) control – without protection. The use of the above plant protection products contributed to the increase of winter wheat grain yield from 0.60 t/ha to 2.07 t/ha. This increase of yield covered costs of performed chemical control. The economic analysis showed that most effective variant of winter wheat chemical protection was seed treatment with Latitude 125 FS with additional two foliar treatments with the following fungicides: Sportak Alpha 380 EC and Vista 228 SE. Irrespective of the applied seed dressing, additional application of Juwel 250 SC at the stage of early milk maturity turned out to be economically not justified.

The incidence of winter wheat stem base diseases: Fusarium foot rot (Fusarium spp.), eyespot (Ramulispora herpotrichoides), sharp eyespot (Rhizoctonia spp.) and take-all (Gaeumannomyces graminis) in the years 1999–2003 was assessed in this study. Previous crops were barley and oilseed rape. Eyespot occurred on the greatest percentage of plants throughout the whole period of the study. In 2000–2003 a deficiency of rainfall was observed, especially at the time of increased water requirements of plants.