Edge effects on yield, yield components and other physiological characteristics in cereals and oilseed crops

The edge effect (calculated as the mean of the two outer rows as a percentage of the mean of the four central rows of 6-row plots) was measured in ten comparative trials conducted in Cyprus during 1987-90, with two cultivars each of rapeseed, safflower and sunflower, and one cultivar each of barley and durum wheat. Grain, straw and total biological yields obtained from the outer rows were usually higher than those obtained from the central rows by 1-384%. In one trial with sunflower, the grain yield of the outer rows was only 64% of that of the central rows, which could not be explained, considering all the other data (.)