
Regeneration of cereals
Seed dormancy
- Cultivated cereals: no dormancy
- Wild cereals: fresh grains may germinate irregularly or not at all.
In many cases when dormancy is present, germination is restored to normal after a storage period of about a year. Dormancy in cereals can be broken by periods of alternating temperatures.
Vernalization
Cultivated winter cereals are sown in October and are vernalized under natural conditions in the field during the winter. Wild winter cereals are sown in trays in the greenhouse in January. After germination the trays are placed in an unheated greenhouse for at least six weeks.
Crop phenology

Sowing
- Cultivated winter types: October
- Cultivated spring types: March
Grains are sown at a density of 300 seeds per m2, with 1.25m2sown. A plot normally consists of 5 rows of 1 meter, with a between row distance of 25cm. When an accession is susceptible to lodging, the plot is supported by sticks and a rope around the plot, once the crop has elongated.
Wild cereals are sown in the greenhouse and are transplanted into big pots with 16 plants per pot and 64 plants per accession. The plants are supported by a cane with 30cm diameter support rings. Wild cereals shed their seeds easily in contrast to cultivated cereals, so during flowering, the ears or panicles are wrapped in perforated plastic bags in order to collect the seeds.
Harvesting
- Winter types: July.
- Spring types: August.
The grains are harvested using a small combine, or ears are collected by hand. The product is stored in bags together with the field number and is pre-dried on a drying floor. Accessions that ripen unevenly in time are harvested in two times by hand. The wild species are harvested by hand collecting the ears and loose seeds in the plastic. The harvest is pre-dried in bags on a drying floor or in a drying chamber. After drying the seeds are separated from the straw in a threshing machine and seed lots are air cleaned to get rid of chaff and debris.
Pest and disease control
- After sowing plots are covered with netting to prevent birds and mammals eating the seeds and seedlings. From flowering on to harvest the whole field is covered in a cage to keep birds from eating the ripening seeds.
- Mildew (), Rust ()