Short communication: Guttation of oat and wheat and the results of its comparison with the yield

Abstract

The present paper aims to give an overview of results collected in the Estonian Crop Research Institute related to the comparison between guttation and yield in grain crop cereals. The objects of research were oat variety 'Eugen' and wheat 'Manu', which went through the stages of germinating their seeds (in vitro), set them by sprouts down into the soil, and the emergence of sprouts under conditions of a hydrothermostat. Since transpiration in a hydrother-mostat at an air temperature of 23 °C, and an extremely high value of air relative humidity was limited, therefore, due to this, the plant sprouts have begun to exude guttation fluid. As result, we have found that the amount of isolated gutted fluid correlates significantly with the grain yields of field trials indicators. The comparison between relative guttation and relative yield was described by a straightforward relationship. The entire experiment took about one week, and the first results of droplet prints on filter paper can be obtained after 60 hours. This was the novelty of our approach which provides the prerequisites for both increasing the reliability of conclusions regarding the yield obtained and its forecast.

Keywords

• relative guttation
• relative yield
• laboratory tests
• spring wheat
• oat