EFFECT OF WEATHER CONDITIONS ON SPRING TRITICALE YIELD AND CONTENT OF MACROELEMENTS IN GRAIN

The chemical composition of cereal grains depends on the natural conditions and applied agronomic practices. Our objective has been to determine the influence of meteorological factors, especially precipitation and temperature during the growth and development of spring triticale, on the yields and content of nutrients in grain. The strongest, significantly positive effect on the volume of yields produced by spring triticale was exerted by the plant growing period duration, whereas the average and minimum daily temperatures had a significantly negative influence on the analysed characteristios of spring triticale. The highest levels of the analyzed minerals were determined in the grain of triticale grown in the years 2007 and 2008, when the yields were the lowest over the research period. The least abundant in minerals was triticale grain from the 2005 and 2011 seasons. The accumulation of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in spring triticale grain depended significantly (positively or negatively) on the examined meteorological factors, except phosphorus being unaffected by total rainfall during the plant growing period. In general, the accumulation of magnesium and calcitum in triticale grain was independent from the tested weather conditions, except total precipitation during the plant growing period, which significantly limited the content of calcium in triticale grain. Significant correlations were found between the grain content of the following macronutrients: nitrogen versus phosphorus and magnesium (positive correlations), and potassium versus nitrogen, phosphorus and magnesium (negative correlations).