Cultivation of sunflower with srip loosening of the soil in the conditions of Ciscaucasia

Abstract

The search and modernization of modern technologies for the cultivation of tilled crops in the Stavropol Territory are primarily associated with obtaining higher crop yields at the lowest production costs and achieving of a significant soil protection effect. Strip-till technology involves the creation of narrow waterabsorbing gaps against the background of stubble and plant residues treated with glyphosateleft on the field. The proposed technology includes an element of modernization — pre-treatment of the stubble with the “Catros” disc tool, which creates soil-straw mulch on the soil surface, preventing moisture evaporation. During the research period from 2019 to 2021, an increase in the average monthly temperature of the spring-summer period (May — June — July) by 1.8 °С, 2.7 °С and 2.0 °С respectively was established in comparison with the long-term average. At the same time, the decrease in the amount of precipitation in the spring period over the years of research averaged 11 mm, with a critical decrease in June 2019 by 52 mm and in July 2020 by 54 mm from the long-term one.A higher density of soils in the main periods of sunflower vegetation was established in comparison with traditional technology by an average of 0.03 g/cm3 due to a lower (by 0.9 mm)average weighted diameterof soil particles. Capillary porosity with Strip-till in the spring was 21%, which formed a larger (by 11 mm)moisture reserve compared to the traditional one, and the yield of sunflower with the Strip-till technology is 0.26 t/ha more, and the profitability is higher by 33%.