How to Increase Oat Grain Numbers
Grain number is a function of the number of fertile shoots per unit area and the number of grains per head.
The main impact of nutrition is on this is on the numbers of grains per head.
Crop Nutrition and Oat Grain Numbers per Ear in Oats
Nitrogen
Nitrogen will affect the number of grains that are set on individual ears. A high yielding crop of oats will have approximately 30-40 grains / ear, however if nitrogen supply is limiting this will be reduced.
The timing of the applied nitrogen is important as grain numbers are determined early from double ridge to floret initiation.
Early applications of nitrogen increases the number of grains / ear.
Micronutrients
Manganese, zinc, copper and boron are the essential micro nutrients that affect the number of grains/ear and hence increase grain yield. Copper affects the quality of pollen and therefore the number of grain sites that set seed. Blind sites are associated with copper deficiency.
Other crop management practices influencing oat grain numbers
The number of eventual grains per ear varies from season to season and is affected by a number of factors including:
- Varietal choice
- Disease control during flowering
- Weather conditions during flowering
- Temperature and day length before terminal spikelet (Zadoks GS 30)
Related articles
How to Increase Oat Yield
High yields of oats come from the correct balance of grain numbers per ear and ears per unit area.
How to maintain green leaf canopy in oat
The other component to achieving high oat yields is to maintain the green area right through to the final grain filling period.
How to Increase Oat Leaf and Shoot Numbers
The number of leaves and shoots determines the size of the canopy and the final number of ears at harvest.
Recommended Yara fertilisers for oats
