Within the manual Protocols for experimental plot sampling, handling and processing of cereals in field experiments
by G.J. Rebetzke (Greg.Rebetzke@csiro.au), A. van Herwaarden, B. Biddulph, C. Moeller, R. Richards, A. Rattey and K. Chenu.
| Measure | When | For what | Requirement* |
| Soil characterisation | Sowing and maturity | Soil characteristics | ++ |
| Sowing | Initial soil status (H20, N…) | ++ | |
| Continuous | Soil water content over time | Depend on the study | |
| Climatic data | Daily | Main impact on plant growth and develop. | +++ |
| Hourly | + | ||
| Plant establishment | DC12-13 | Estimation of -real’ density | +++ |
| Info on seeds, seed bed, sowing conditions | |||
| Ground cover | DC12 up to closure of the canopy | Early vigour assessment | + |
| Importance for soil evaporation, weed competition, soil water depletion | |||
| Canopy light interception | DC20+ | Growth rates; Radiation use efficiency | + |
| Leaf area/biomass at five-leaf stage | DC1 5 | Plant growth assessment | + |
| Carbon isotope discrimination | |||
| Assessing plant and crop development | DC29+ | Phenology assessment (in particular flowering date) | +++ |
| Carbon isotope discrimination | DC30-32 | Assess leaf photosynthesis capacity, potential drought adaptation | Depend on the study |
| Leaf and root/crown disease | DC12+ | Disease assessment | If applicable |
| Crop canopy temperature | DC37+ | Estimation of transpiration rate (potential drought adaptation) | Depend on the study |
| Biomass at flowering | DC65 | Assess crop growth during vegetative period | ++ |
| Stem WSC at flowering | DC65 | Assess carbon reserves at the end of the vegetative period | + |
| Plant N content at flowering | DC65 | Assess putative N deficiency | + |
| Anthesis and post-anthesis leaf characteristics | DC65+ | Plant growth assessment, Impact on stress tolerance | Depend on the study |
| Extreme temperature damage | DC70.2+ | Impact on yield (can also be assessed with climatic records) | + |
| Maturity height, crop lodging, and shattering | DC92+ | Impact on harvest | ++ |
| Maturity harvest index, biomass and spike number | DC92+ | Assess plant growth during crop cycle, grain yield component | +++ |
| Grain size, hectolitre weight and grain screenings | DC93+ | Harvest quality | +++ |
| Maturity machine harvest | DC93+ | Grain yield | +++ |
* Indication of the general relevance for each measurement (Note that this may vary across studies): +++, of prime importance;, ++, very useful; +, valuable information.
Other resources
Appendix 1. Text description of phenological scale, Zadoks decimal code (DC).
Appendix 2. Picture description of phenological scale, Zadoks decimal code (DC).
Zadoks JC, Chang TT, Konzak CF (1974) A decimal code for the growth stages of cereals. Weed Research 14(6),415-421. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-3180.1974.tb01084.x
Notes and troubleshooting tips
Literature
Download complete manual: Protocols for cereal field experiments_Nov2012.pdf
Health, safety & hazardous waste disposal considerations