New BBCH growth stage keys
The BBCH[1] growth stage keys aim to provide a standard and uniform description of the visible growth stages of plants, using a two-digit decimal code. This system has been developed for many important crops, such as cereals, rice, maize, rape, potato, fruit trees, small fruits, vegetables (see EPPO RS 2016/204). In 1997, the BBCH growth stage keys were recommended by the EPPO Working Party on Plant Protection Products and by Council for use in EPPO countries, thus replacing the previously recommended EPPO growth stage keys. New BBCH scales have recently been published to describe the growth stages of the following plants:
- Indian jujube (Ziziphus mauritiana) (Krishna et al., 2019)
- Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus) (Kishore, 2018)
- Montpellier rock-rose (Cistus monspeliensis) (Piga et al., 2018)
- Pecan (Carya illinoensis) (Han et al., 2018)
- Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa) (Soza-Zuniga et al., 2017)
[1] The abbreviation BBCH derives from the first letters of the German names of Biologische Bundesanstalt (Federal Biological Research Centre), Bundessortenamt (Federal Plant Variety Office) and Chemical industry.
Sources
Han M, Peng F, Marshall P (2018), Pecan phenology in Southeastern China. Annals of Applied Biology 172(2), 160-169. DOI:10.1111/aab.12408
Kishore K (2018) Phenological growth stages of jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus) according to the extended BBCH scale. Annals of Applied Biology 172(3), 366-374.
Krishna H, Kumar L, Haldhar SM, Singh D, Saroj PL (2019) Phenological growth stages of Indian jujube (Ziziphus mauritiana Lamk.) according to the BBCH scale. Annals of Applied Biology 174(1), 106-112. DOI: 10.1111/aab.12466
Piga A, Duce P, Cesaraccio C (2018) Phenological growth stages of Montpellier rock-rose Mediterranean shrub (Cistus monspeliensis): codification and description according to the BBCH scale. Annals of Applied Biology 172(3), 384-391.
Sosa-Zuniga V, Brito V, Fuentes F, Steinfort U (2017) Phenological growth stages of quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa) based on the BBCH scale. Annals of Applied Biology 171(3), 117-124.