Xiaomai: I can’t hold on any longer. I’ll fall down first.

Review expert: Xia Xiaofei, Secretary General of Beijing Botanical Society

"The south wind rose last night, and the wheat fields turned yellow."

On the second floor platform of the Beijing Science Center Special Effects Theater, there is a wheat field that was green and full of vitality in May. As the weather gradually gets warmer, the wheat gradually matures, and now it is a golden wheat field, showing signs of a good harvest everywhere.

On June 1, Beijing Science Center held the "Smart Science Popularization - June Science Birthday Party". In the "Wheat Fun Kids Tour", teachers led the children into the wheat field area on the top floor of the dome theater to observe the growth of wheat, feel the wheat ears, understand wheat growth and agricultural knowledge, and cultivate observation and thinking skills. The activity is entertaining and educational, laying a solid foundation for the children's scientific enlightenment and exploration journey.

Event site

At the event, the children found a field of fallen wheat and couldn't help wondering, "Are they tired? Why are they all falling down?" The science and technology counselor said that it was not because the wheat was tired, this phenomenon is called "wheat lodging". There are many factors that lead to wheat lodging, such as weather and the type of crops planted.

On May 30, Beijing experienced short-term storms, heavy rain and hail.

Special Effects Cinema on May 30

The wheat on the second floor of the special effects theater fell over after the strong wind and heavy rain.

Wheat lodging on the second floor platform of the special effects theater

Things about wheat lodging What is lodging ? <br /> Lodging refers to the phenomenon that upright crops become crooked in patches or even fall to the ground. Lodging can reduce the yield and quality of crops and make harvesting difficult. When wheat and rice are seriously lodged, the yield can even be reduced by more than half. Lodging mostly occurs in the middle and late stages of crop growth. The earlier rice, wheat and other cereal crops lodge after jointing, the greater the loss.

Lodging Types <br /> Wheat lodging is basically divided into the following two types: First, stem lodging . This is the so-called bending and breaking of the wheat stem; second, root lodging . As the name suggests, the wheat root breaks and tilts together with the root.

The wheat lodging at the Beijing Science Center belongs to the second type, root lodging.

Why fall down

Is the wheat too tired to "stand" all the time? Does it need to "lie down" to rest? Of course not. There are many reasons why wheat lodging occurs:

0 1Special Weather

Special weather is the direct cause of wheat lodging. In the middle and late stages of wheat growth, the plant's internodes are fully elongated, especially the wheat ears are fully developed, and the weight of the top of the plant increases. During this period, if the field population is too large and the ventilation is poor, and there is heavy rain and strong wind at the same time, or only encounters extreme weather such as heavy rain and strong winds, and the wind and rain last for a long time, lodging is likely to occur.

0 2 Group is too large

Due to excessive sowing amount or special climatic conditions, wheat tillers more and ear formation rate is higher in the later stage, which results in too large wheat field population and too high plant density. Such situation in the field will inevitably lead to poor ventilation and light transmission, elongated internodes of stems, easy occurrence of diseases and insect pests, thus greatly reducing the lodging resistance of individual plants and groups.

0 3Disease damage

If wheat suffers from stem rot, sheath blight, powdery mildew, fusarium head blight, rust, etc., if prevention and control is not timely or improper, it is easy to cause root, stem, and leaf necrosis or rot, increasing the risk of lodging. Of course, there are many reasons for wheat lodging, which is the result of the combined action of multiple factors.

Combining the weather in Beijing on May 30 and the amount of wheat planted in Beijing Science Center, we can infer that the lodging of wheat in Beijing Science Center was caused by special weather.

How to save you, my wheat!

After the wheat lodging, what should we do to minimize the losses?

First, do not manually straighten the wheat after it has fallen. When the wheat has fallen, its stems will grow upward from the most vigorous intercalary meristem, making the fallen wheat raise its head and turn upright. If it is straightened manually, it is easy to damage the stems and roots. It should be allowed to recover naturally, so as to minimize the loss of production.

Secondly, foliar fertilizer should be sprayed in time. After lodging, the resistance of wheat plants is reduced, so foliar fertilizer should be sprayed and nutrients should be supplemented in time.

Don't forget to strengthen disease prevention and control. Timely prevention and control of various diseases and insect pests caused by lodging is a key measure to reduce the losses caused by lodging.

I believe that with the efforts of the staff of Beijing Science Center, these "fallen" wheat warriors can be saved!