Within the manual Protocols for experimental plot sampling, handling and processing of cereals in field experiments
| 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.
Appendix 2.
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