Crop and Cropping: Wheat Crop Management and Pest Control

CROP AND CROPPING
By Name
Course
Instructor
Institution
Location
Date

Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................................3
THE SITE.......................................................................................................................................................3
Climate....................................................................................................................................................3
Soil Type and Soil Analysis.......................................................................................................................4
WHEAT CROP MANAGEMENT.....................................................................................................................6
Land Preparation.....................................................................................................................................6
Time of Planting...................................................................................................................................8
Irrigation Requirements and Scheduling...........................................................................................10
PEST CONTROL......................................................................................................................................11
Viral diseases.....................................................................................................................................11
Bacterial Diseases..............................................................................................................................12
Fungal Diseases of Roots or Crown....................................................................................................12
Fungal Diseases of Stem or Sheath....................................................................................................13
Pest and Disease Management Practices..........................................................................................15
Crop Rotation........................................................................................................................................17
Variety Selection....................................................................................................................................17
Seeding and Basal Fertilizer...................................................................................................................17
Nitrogen Application and Yield Prediction.............................................................................................19
Strategy and time of use....................................................................................................................19
GROSS MARGIN.........................................................................................................................................19
SUMMARY OF KEY RECOMMENDATIONS..................................................................................................22
References.................................................................................................................................................23

INTRODUCTION
This report aims at offering insights into how a profitable crop of wheat would be grown at the
Cunderdin site and thereafter come up with the gross margin for the grown wheat that would be
used in the assessment of profitability of undertaking. The site of the activity will be at the
Cunderdin Site that is located at the Cunderdin College of Agriculture. The report is divided into
various sections including the
 Site which explores the climate, type of soil and soil analysis as well as crop rotation and
the accompanying implications
 Wheat crop management that explores on the land preparation, pest control as well as
variety selection alongside seeding and basal fertilizer as well as nitrogen applications
and prediction of yields
 The gross margin for the wheat crop in a tabular form that would be inclusive of the
discussion of the costs of production as well as the income; and
 The summary of the main recommendations
THE SITE
Climate
The field is at the Cunderdin College of Agriculture (117°14′ 56.78′′ E, 31°38′ 28.46′′ S).
Relatively long term climate records are available from the Bureau of Meteorology website for
Cunderdin Airfield. The site had canola in 2017, Albus lupin in 2016 and then wheat in 2015.
The current amount of stubble is 2 t ha-1. The main weeds are annual ryegrass (Lolium rigidum),
brome grass (Bromus diandrus), barley grass (Hordeum leporinum), wild oats (Avena fatua) as
well as wild radish (Raphanus raphanistrum). The main wheat leaf diseases present are yellow

leaf spot (tan spot) (Pyrenophora tritici-repentis) as well as septoria nodorum blotch
(Stagonospora nodorum). The prevalent root diseases at the site are crown rot (Fusarium
pseudograminearum) as well as Rhizoctonia root rot (Rhizoctonia solani). The main nematode is
root lesion nematode (Pratylenchus neglectus).
Soil Type and Soil Analysis
The Cunderdin soil is an alkaline red duplex that has a sandy clay loam texture with about 22%
clay. The soil pH (measured in 0.01M CaCl2) increases with depth as well as calcium carbonate
concretions are visible below about 40 cm. A detailed soil analysis from 2007 is given in Table 1
and a more recent one from 2017 in Table 2.
Figure 1: Soil chemical analysis from the Cunderdin site 2007
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
Series2
Series4
Series6
Depth
Analysis
Legend
Series 1-Soil chemical analysis at depth of 10 cm

Series 2- Soil chemical analysis at depth of 20 cm
Series 3- Soil chemical analysis at depth of 30 cm
Figure 2: Soil chemical analysis from the Cunderdin site 2017
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
Series2
Series4
Series6
Depth
Analysis
Legend
Series 1-Soil chemical analysis at depth of 10 cm
Series 2- Soil chemical analysis at depth of 20 cm
Series 3- Soil chemical analysis at depth of 30 cm
From the data represented on the two figures, within the decade, there have been significant
changes in the amount of various nutrients in the soil. The amount of nitrate increased,
ammonium decreased, phosphorus increased, potassium increased, sulphur decreased,

conductivity reduced by half over the decade. These changes in the amount of nutrients among
others have resulted in making the soil more viable and ideal for the growth of the crop (Wallace
et al., 2016).
WHEAT CROP MANAGEMENT
Land Preparation
The accuracy land levelling is one of essential agronomic practices to expel high points and low
points of soil as well as to accomplish better seed bed conditions for the uniform conveyance of
water system water as well as better supply of different contributions to the developing wheat
edit. Wheat requires rich topsoil to earth soil soils with great waste for better yields. The yield
developing territories ought to be isolated into little plots of a large portion of a section of land
alongside directs in the center to isolate each plot and to make appropriate utilization of water
system water as indicated by product needs (Piggin et al., 2015).
The most idea soil for wheat is unified with:
 A decent compelling profundity with a fine tilth to guarantee seed-soil contact. Great
seed-soil contact guarantees great product development and stand which are the reason
for good yields
 Ideal physical properties: great interior waste, an ideal dampness administration,
 Chemical features: adequate and adjusted amounts of supplements (NPK as well as other
smaller scale supplements/follow supplements)
 Biological features: great level of natural issue, and with gainful miniaturized scale life
forms (Jat et al., 2014)