Growth regulator
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The term given to a group of chemicals, principally synthetic plant hormones, which modify the natural growth of (mainly) cereals, particularly winter wheat and winter barley, as an aid to optimising agricultural profitability.
These chemicals are also called straw shorteners.
The chemical is sprayed as an aqueous solution onto the growing crop by an agricultural sprayer at a specific growth stage of the plant, usually at the beginning of stem extension of the cereal (early spring).
The object of the treatment is to limit the mature height of the cereal, which, coupled with the use of dwarf varieties bred for the shortness of their stems, allows greater levels of nitrogen fertiliser to be used economically, thereby increasing the yield of the cereal.
Intensive cereals with longer stems undergo lodging as a result of the effect of wind and rain, incuring a severe yield penalty, making the crop difficult to harvest, and exposing the ripening grain to moisture, dirt and disease from lying at ground level instead of standing upright. The shorter the stems, the more nitrogen can be converted to grain weight in the ear before the extra weight causes the plant to succumb to lodging ( a lever effect).
The yield increases, coupled with the reduced harvest and growing / storage costs, more than justify the expense of the treatment.
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