Agricultural Aviation and Farming

The concept of "aviation varieties" does not exist in the strict scientific sense in the nomenclature of plant breeding. However, historically, this term has been understood to refer to specialized varieties of agricultural crops created or widely introduced during the era of industrialization of Soviet agriculture in the 1960-1980s, whose cultivation was optimally adapted to the use of aviation technology (aviation chemical work, aerial sowing) on vast fields. This was a symbiosis of agronomy, breeding, and aviation industry, aimed at maximum mechanization and efficiency in the conditions of extensive agriculture.

Agronomic requirements for "sky" varieties

For effective aerial treatment, plants had to possess a set of characteristics different from varieties for manual or tractor labor:

Low height and resistance to lodging. This is a key parameter. Tall, weak-stemmed crops (old varieties of rye, wheat) would fall under the weight of dew or after rain, forming "piles". Low-growing (70-110 cm) varieties with strong straw remained standing, allowing An-2 planes ("corn planes") to evenly spray pesticides and herbicides over the crops without creating "bare spots" in areas of lodging.

Simultaneous ripening. For harvesting by combines and for effective desiccation (drying of plants with chemicals from the air before harvesting), all plants on the field had to reach full maturity as synchronously as possible. This contrasted sharply with folk varieties, where ripening was stretched out.

Resistance to chemical impact. Varieties had to tolerate not only target substances (fertilizers, stimulants) but also the runoff of some chemicals from adjacent fields. This required breeders to incorporate resistance to certain classes of herbicides and fungicides into the genotype.

Uniformity in height and habit. An even "carpet" of plants of the same height ensured accurate delivery of chemicals to the leaf surface and even ripening.

Historical context and examples of crops
The peak of "aviation breeding" coincided with the period of the development of virgin and fallow lands, where fields of thousands of hectares made ground treatment extremely slow.

Spring wheat. Here, the variety "Novosibirskaya 67", created by the Siberian Institute of Plant Breeding and Selection, is particularly noteworthy. This is a low-growing, early-maturing variety that is resistant to lodging and brown rust, perfectly suited for the conditions of Siberia and large-scale chemicalization. Its spread was directly correlated with the growth of the agricultural aviation fleet.

Figure. On rice checks (test fields) in the Kuban and the Far East, aviation was used for applying mineral fertilizers (nitrogen) and treating against pyricularia (rice fungus). Rice varieties for such systems had to be resistant to high doses of nitrogen (so as not to "graze" at the expense of grain) and have a strong stem. Soviet varieties such as "Krasnodar 424" met these requirements.

Cotton. In the Central Asian republics, aviation was used for defoliation - removing leaves with chemicals before the mechanical harvesting of raw cotton. Varieties (such as "Tashkent") had to form bolls in the lower rank of the plant and have certain biochemical resistance so that the defoliant would not damage the most valuable - the fiber.

Forage crops (clover, lucerne). Aviation sowing of grasses into already growing cereal crops (such as corn) for improving crop rotation required varieties to be shade-tolerant at an early stage and to be able to grow quickly after the main crop harvest.

Agricultural aviation as part of the technological cycle

Planes (especially An-2) and helicopters (Mi-2, Ka-26) became an integral part of the chain:

Aerial sowing (sowing fields from the air) - was used on inaccessible, swampy, or very large areas.

Leaf feeding - spraying with solutions of trace elements (for example, boron for beets, zinc for corn) on leaves. Aviation allowed for its quick execution in the critical growth phase.

Combating pests and diseases - mass treatment with insecticides and fungicides.

Desiccation - pre-harvest drying to accelerate ripening and facilitate combine work.

The effectiveness of this cycle depended on the properties of the variety itself by 40-60%.

Scientific heritage and modernity

"Aviation" varieties became a bridge between traditional breeding and modern industrial agronomy. They laid the foundation for modern requirements for varieties that are still relevant today in the era of precision agriculture:

Adaptability to precision farming. Modern varieties, treated by drones, should meet the same principles: uniformity, responsiveness to point application of fertilizers, "convenient" architecture for air monitoring.

Genetic resistance. Work on creating chemical tolerance has become a precursor to the creation of GM varieties resistant to specific herbicides (such as Roundup Ready).

Space breeding. An interesting fact: seeds of many agricultural crops, including descendants of those very "aviation" varieties, that have been in space (on biosatellites, ISS), undergo mutagenesis under the action of radiation and weightlessness. This allows obtaining new lines with unusual properties, which are then used in breeding. Thus, in China and Russia, promising lines of wheat and tomatoes with increased yield and resistance after space missions have been created.

Environmental and economic consequences

The mass introduction of this system had a double effect:

Positive: A sharp increase in labor productivity, the ability to process vast areas, an increase in grain yields.

Negative: Increased chemical load on ecosystems, simplification of crop rotation (monoculture), soil erosion. Varieties oriented towards chemicalization sometimes lost in taste quality and adaptability to local conditions.

Conclusion

"Aviation" varieties are a vivid historical example of how technology dictates requirements to a biological object. They were not just plants but part of a giant technological conveyor belt, where the plane was as much a link as the combine, elevator, and breeding station. Their heritage lives on in modern varieties that, although not called "aviation," carry in their DNA the imprint of the era of industrial breakthrough in agriculture when humanity first learned to manage agroecosystems from the air. This was a unique symbiosis of winged machines and specially created living nature for them.

Permanent link to this publication: