[The sensitivity of agricultural plants to short-term UV-stress]

The effect of a short-term exposure to UV-irradiation (applied for 7 hours at doses of 100-250 kJ/m2) on various cultured plants (cereals, legumes, vegetables, forage plants) was studied. It was a field study in which artificial UV-sources (280-380 nm) were used. UV-sensitivity was measured in terms of yield changes of the above cultures. After UV-irradiation the yield of most of them, e.g., potatoes, vetch, clover, peas, horse-beans, barley (with respect to seed productivity) decreased. The sensitivity of cabbage and barley (biomass, forage) was moderate. Cereals (wheat, ryegrass, oat) proved to be resistant, i.e., their productivity remained unchanged.