Lodging is a deviation of plants from a vertical position, which is categorized into root lodging and stem lodging. In the first case, tilting occurs due to weak root anchorage in the soil, while in the second, the stem bends or breaks due to insufficient straw strength under the load of the ear mass or stand density.
Lodging resistance is evaluated during state variety trials visually on a five-point scale before harvest, where high scores correspond to high resistance, and low scores to a tendency for crop collapse. Additionally, methods for measuring stem flexibility and calculating bending strength are employed.
This variety trait depends on the interaction between the genotype and growing conditions. Genetic resistance is determined by the presence of semi-dwarf genes, straw diameter, the strength of anatomical tissues, and lignin content, whereas external factors include nitrogen nutrition, seeding rate, and weather conditions.