Europe Mars Bulletins
16 December 2013
MARS Bulletin Vol.21 No.12 (Crop monitoring in Europe)
No frost kill is expected in the near future.No frost kill expected in the near future
The decreasing temperatures of late autumn and early winter initiated the hardening of winter cereals. During this process, the freezing point of plant cellular liquids decreases, thus increasing the tolerance of winter crops to lowtemperatures, which is crucial to survive harsh winter conditions. Our model simulation results indicate some delay in hardening in central and eastern areas of Europe due to the mild thermal conditions of the last two months. Winter wheat has reached almost maximum winter tolerance in the Near Volga District, and some areas in Finland, Sweden and eastern Turkey.
Hardening is well advanced in southern Germany, the south-western half of the Czech Republic, as well as in northern Europe, most of Belarus, in the Central Okrug of Russia and some areas in northern and eastern Ukraine. Winter crops are partially hardened in a wide region extending from the British Isles and Spain to the Black Sea. No or slight low-temperature tolerance has been reached in the southern Mediterranean regions. No frost kill has been simulated so far in Europe.
Considering the ten days weather forecast until 23 December, the winter cereals will complete hardening in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus; and frost tolerance will increase significantly in the eastern regions of Poland and the Baltic countries for the last dekad of December. Frost kill events are unlikely to happen during this period.

December 2013
Source: MARS BULLETIN – EC - JRC
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