Russia: Damping and increased sparseness of winter crops noted in the Hydrometeorological Center

Warm February in the regions of the Center and the Volga region complicated the wintering of winter crops, the conditions for their dampening appeared, said Roman Vilfand, scientific director of the Hydrometeorological Center of Russia. In these areas, snow cover over 30 cm high was formed in mid-December, and soil freezing was small (less than 15 cm), in some places the soil was thawed - as a result, dampening occurred during the warming period. Referring to the weather in the Southern and North Caucasian federal districts, Vilfand noted that low temperatures were observed here in February - up to 17-23 degrees below zero. In Crimea - up to minus 16 degrees. Vilfand recalled that in order to assess the development of winter crops in the spring, they are examined in the laboratory. To do this, part of the plants is removed from the fields in winter along with the soil. Growth of plant samples taken from the fields on January 25 showed that increased sparseness (unsatisfactory ...