Evaluation of Ecological Adaptability of Oilseed Radish (Raphanus sativus L. var. oleiformis Pers.) Biopotential Realization in the System of Criteria for Multi-Service Cover Crop

The article presents the results of a ten-year cycle of studying oilseed radish in the variant of two sowing dates. The technological regulations of the applied sowing options correspond to the classical scheme of spring sowing period and intermediate (post-harvest, post-mowing varieties) in the summer sowing period. The research evaluated the first block of indicators of the multi-service cover crop (MSCC) criteria system. The assessment of the first component of the MSCC system included indicators of the formed aboveground and underground plant biomass with details on such components as the dynamics of mass growth and soil coverage, the structure of the aboveground mass by the proportion of leaves, stems and generative part, complex morphometry by the vitality index, plant survival and root system productivity for both sowing dates. Significant levels of ecological adaptability of oilseed radish with the possibility of forming levels of total bioproductivity in the range of 4–7 t·ha-1 of dry matter at a wide range of average daily temperatures (14–22°C) and precipitation of 29–290 mm were established. It was determined that at high rates of growth processes with the level of achievement of the ‘ground cover’ indicator at 70% on 45–50 days after sowing, high plant survival at the level of 70–80% during intermediate summer use, the formation of an optimized structure with a leafiness at the level of 30–49% at the milestone date of use, with an achievable root system productivity coefficient of 4.7 (in dry matter) and the formation of total plant biomass at the level of 2.0–4.0 t·ha-1 of dry matter even under conditions of IDM<10 and Kh< 0.5, oilseed radish should be classified as a crop that fully corresponds the criteria of the first general productive block of the MSCC system.