Editing Rye (section)

== Cultivation ==

[[File:Ivan Shishkin - Рожь - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|1878 oil painting ''[[Rye (Shishkin)|A Rye Field]]'' by [[Ivan Shishkin]] ]]

Since the [[Middle Ages]], people have cultivated rye widely in [[Central Europe|Central]] and [[Eastern Europe]]. It serves as the main [[bread]] cereal in most areas east of the [[France–Germany border]] and north of [[Hungary]]. In Southern Europe, it was cultivated on marginal lands.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Behre |first=Karl-Ernst |date=1992 |title=The history of rye cultivation in Europe |url=https://www.academia.edu/17566065 |url-status=live |journal= [[Vegetation History and Archaeobotany]] |volume=1 |issue=3 |doi=10.1007/BF00191554 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220323020416/https://www.academia.edu/17566065 |archive-date=March 23, 2022 |access-date=February 17, 2022 |s2cid=129518700}}</ref>

Rye grows well in much poorer soils than those necessary for most cereal grains. Thus, it is an especially valuable crop in regions where the soil has [[sand]] or [[peat]]. Rye plants withstand cold better than other small grains, surviving snow cover that would kill winter wheat. Winter rye is the most popular: it is planted and begins to grow in autumn. In spring, the plants develop rapidly.<ref name="Wong-1998"/> This allows it to provide spring grazing, at a time when spring-planted wheat has only just germinated.<ref>{{cite web |title=Growing Winter Rye in Scotland |url=https://www.fas.scot/article/growing-winter-rye-in-scotland/ |publisher=Farm Advisory Service Scotland |access-date=4 May 2024 |date=10 May 2023}}</ref>

The physical properties of rye affect attributes of the final food product such as seed size, surface area, and porosity. The surface area of the seed directly correlates to the drying and heat transfer time.<ref name="Jouki-2012">{{cite journal |last1=Jouki |first1=Mohammad |last2=Emam-Djomeh |first2=Zahra |last3=Khazaei |first3=Naimeh |date=2012 |title=Physical Properties of Whole Rye Seed (''Secale cereal'') |journal=International Journal of Food Engineering |volume=8 |issue=4 |doi=10.1515/1556-3758.2054|s2cid=102003836}}</ref> Smaller seeds have increased heat transfer, which leads to lower drying time. Seeds with lower porosity lose water more slowly during the process of drying.<ref name="Jouki-2012" />

Rye is [[harvest]]ed like wheat with a [[combine harvester]], which cuts the plants, [[threshing|threshes]] and [[winnowing|winnows]] the grain, and releases the [[straw]] to the field where it is later pressed into bales or left as soil amendment. The resultant grain is stored in local [[silo]]s or transported to regional [[grain elevator]]s and combined with other lots for storage and distant shipment. Before the era of [[mechanised agriculture]], rye harvesting was a [[manual labour|manual]] task performed with [[scythe]]s or [[sickle]]s.<ref name="Jensen-1988">{{cite book |last=Jensen |first=Joan M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v8OSv8QQQgoC&pg=PA47 |title=Loosening the Bonds: Mid-Atlantic Farm Women, 1750–1850 |publisher=[[Yale University Press]] (YUP) |year=1988 |isbn=978-0-300-04265-8 |location=New Haven |page=47 |access-date=2016-07-17 |via=Google Books}}</ref><ref name="Jones-2016">{{cite book |last=Jones |first=Peter M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Jv3VCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA123 |title=Agricultural Enlightenment: Knowledge, Technology, and Nature, 1750–1840 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] (OUP) |year=2016 |isbn=978-0-19-102515-0 |location=Oxford |page=123}}</ref>

=== Agroecology ===

[[Winter rye]] is any breed of rye planted in the autumn to provide ground cover for the winter. It grows during warmer days of the winter when sunlight temporarily warms the plant above freezing, even while there is general snow cover. It can be used as a cover crop to prevent the growth of [[winter-hardy]] weeds.<ref name="Burgos-2006">{{cite book |last1=Burgos |first1=Nilda R. |title=Handbook of Sustainable Weed Management |last2=Talbert |first2=Ronald E. |last3=Kuk |first3=Yong In |date=2006 |publisher=Haworth Press |isbn=978-1-56022-957-5 |editor1-last=Sing |editor1-first=Harinder P. |location= [[New York City|New York]] |page=110 |chapter=Grass-legume mixed cover crops for weed management |access-date=October 5, 2016 |editor2-last=Batish |editor2-first=Daisy Rani |editor3-last=Kohli |editor3-first=Ravinder Kumar |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Az-qoHPCnvYC&pg=PA110 |via= [[Google Books]] }}</ref>

Rye grows better than any other cereal in heavy [[clay]] and light sandy soil, and infertile or drought-affected soils. It can tolerate [[pH]] between 4.5 and 8.0, but soils having pH 5.0 to 7.0 are best suited for rye cultivation. Rye grows best in fertile, well-drained [[loam]] or clay-loam soils.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://www.eolss.net/ebooklib/bookinfo/soils-plant-growth-crop-production.aspx |title=Soils, Plant Growth and Crop Production Volume II |date=2010 |publisher=[[EOLSS]] Publishers |isbn=978-1-84826-368-0 |editor=Willy H. Verheye |page=121 |chapter=Growth and Production of Oat and Rye |access-date=December 4, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210511044506/https://www.eolss.net/ebooklib/bookinfo/soils-plant-growth-crop-production.aspx |archive-date=May 11, 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref> As for temperature, the crop can thrive in subzero environments, assisted by the production of [[antifreeze protein|antifreeze polypeptide]]s (different from those produced by some fish and insects) by the leaves of winter rye.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Hon |first1=W. C. |last2=Griffith |first2=M. |last3=Chong |first3=P. |last4=Yang |first4=D. S.-C. |date=March 1, 1994 |title=Extraction and Isolation of Antifreeze Proteins from Winter Rye (''Secale cereale'' L.) Leaves |journal=[[Plant Physiology (journal)|Plant Physiology]] |volume=104 |issue=3 |pages=971–980 |doi=10.1104/pp.104.3.971 |pmc=160695 |pmid=12232141}}</ref>

Rye is a common, [[grass weed|unwanted invader]] of [[winter wheat]] fields. If allowed to grow and mature, it may cause substantially reduced prices (docking) for harvested wheat.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Lyon |first1=Drew J. |last2=Klein |first2=Robert N |date=May 2007 |title=Rye Control in Winter Wheat |url=http://www.ianrpubs.unl.edu/pages/publicationD.jsp?publicationId=106 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140413144910/http://www.ianrpubs.unl.edu/pages/publicationD.jsp?publicationId=106 |archive-date=April 13, 2014 |access-date=July 12, 2016 |publisher=Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, [[University of Nebraska]], Lincoln Extension |edition=Revised |orig-year=2002}}</ref>

=== Pests and diseases ===

{{further|List of rye diseases}}

[[File:Claviceps purpurea 47424140.jpg|thumb|The poisonous [[ergot]] fungus growing on rye]]

Pests including the nematode ''[[Ditylenchus dipsaci]]'' and a variety of herbivorous insects can seriously affect plant health.<ref name="Matz-1991">{{cite book |last=Matz |first=Samuel A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WKY0h5YrQVwC&pg=PA182 |title=Chemistry and Technology of Cereals as Food and Feed |publisher=[[Van Nostrand Reinhold]]/AVI |year=1991 |isbn=978-0-442-30830-8 |location=New York |pages=181–182 |access-date=July 14, 2016}}</ref>

Rye is highly susceptible to the [[ergot]] fungus.<ref>[http://www.mondofacto.com/facts/dictionary?ergot ergot] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303201034/http://www.mondofacto.com/facts/dictionary?ergot|date=March 3, 2016}}, online medical dictionary</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090910032206/http://www.mercksource.com/pp/us/cns/cns_hl_dorlands_split.jsp?pg=%2Fppdocs%2Fus%2Fcommon%2Fdorlands%2Fdorland%2Fthree%2F000036589.htm ergot], [[Dorland's Medical Dictionary]]</ref> Consumption of ergot-infected rye by humans and animals results in [[ergotism]], which causes convulsions, miscarriage, necrosis of digits, hallucinations and death. Historically, damp northern countries that depended on rye as a staple crop were subject to periodic epidemics.<ref name="Wong-1998">{{cite web |last=Wong |first=George J. |date=1998 |title=Ergot of Rye: History |url=http://www.botany.hawaii.edu/faculty/wong/BOT135/LECT12.HTM |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051124221943/http://www.botany.hawaii.edu/faculty/wong/bot135/lect12.htm |archive-date=November 24, 2005 |access-date=July 12, 2016 |work=Botany 135 Syllabus |publisher= [[University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa]], Botany Department}}</ref> Modern grain-cleaning and milling methods have practically eliminated ergotism, but it remains a risk if food safety vigilance breaks down.<ref name="Belser-Ehrlich-2013">{{cite journal |last1=Belser-Ehrlich |first1=Sarah |last2=Harper |first2=Ashley |last3=Hussey |first3=John |last4=Hallock |first4=Robert |title=Human and cattle ergotism since 1900: Symptoms, outbreaks, and regulations |journal=Toxicology and Industrial Health |volume=29 |issue=4 |date=2013 |doi=10.1177/0748233711432570 |pages=307–316|pmid=22903169 }}</ref>

After an absence of 60 years, [[rye stem rust|stem rust]] (''Puccinia graminis'' f. sp. ''tritici'') has returned to [[Europe]] in the 2020s.<ref name="Annika-2022">{{Cite journal |last1=Annika |first1=Djurle |last2=Young |first2=Beth |last3=Berlin |first3=Anna |last4=Vågsholm |first4=Ivar |last5=Blomstrom |first5=Anne |last6=Nygren |first6=Jim |last7=Kvarnheden |first7=Anders |year=2022 |title=Addressing biohazards to food security in primary production |journal=[[Food Security]] |language=English |publisher=Springer Nature |volume=14 |issue=6 |pages=1475–1497 |doi=10.1007/s12571-022-01296-7 |doi-access=free |s2cid=250250761}}</ref> Areas affected include [[Germany]], [[Russia]] ([[Western Siberia]]), [[Spain]], and [[Sweden]].<ref name="Annika-2022" />