Late summer sowing positively affects yield of lowland buckwheat in Northeastern Italy

There is a growing demand for Italian buckwheat production. However, Italian buckwheat is still largely cultivated in upland regions and little is known about its cultivation outside traditional growing areas. In a two-year experiment the commercial buckwheat cultivar “Lileja” was sown on three different sowing dates (May, July, August) at two plant densities (250 and 350 seeds m−2) within a split-plot design with four replicates. The objective of the study was to investigate the effect of planting date and seed rate on buckwheat yield and growth parameters. Despite a significant year effect, late summer sowing was stable between years in terms of yield, resistance to lodging and harvest index. Results from the growth analysis suggest that many growth parameters of buckwheat were affected by sowing date, with a slower biomass accumulation recorded in 2017. The findings illustrate the potential use of buckwheat as a cash crop in the lowland areas of northern Italy, when sown in August at a seed rate of 250 seeds m−2.