Lodging in cereals – A review

Permanent displacement of plants from their vertical stance is called lodging. It is more common in cereals like wheat, oat and barley. Stalk breakage is also observed in sorghum and maize. Lodging usually occurs close to harvest and cereals are prone to lodging near harvest. There are two types of lodging stem and root. It is a complicated phenomenon influenced by many factors including wind, rain, topography, soil type, previous crop management and disease. Intensively cultivated cereals with high inputs like irrigation and fertilizer are more prone to lodging. Lodging reduces cereal yields considerably especially under mechanized harvesting. It also increases cost of harvesting with decrease in quality. Adoption of proper method of planting and time, population, nutrition, rotation and disease management helps in reducing lodging.