Effect of soil treatment on pest infestation and crop disease distribution in black soil fields with short rotation crops

Abstract

We have established the influence of four tillage systems on pest distribution and development of diseases in cultivated cereals during three-year research (2017-2019) in the field stationary of the Bila Tserkva National Agrarian University, Ukraine (chernozem grain sprouting with five-course rotation). The population of turnip moth in winter wheat, spring barley, and soya was the highest under application of disk tillage, the lowest – under moldboard tillage. The moldboard treatment limited while the beardless and disk treatments stimulate the development of beet webworm in the cereal crops. The number of pests in soya, winter wheat, spring barley, and maize was higher under combined soil treatment compared to moldboard. We recorded no significant difference in pests towards tillage systems in sunflower crops. In soya, winter wheat and maize crops, the number of wireworm was significantly higher in molded than in molded cultivation; the opposite pattern was observed in the sunflower field, while for spring barley these values were at the same level. The distribution and development of root rot in cereal crops was higher in comparison with control, but this difference was insignificant in spring barley. The development of powdery mildew in spring barley crops was almost the same for these tillage options. In cereal crops, septoriosis lesions were almost at the same level in case of moldboard and combined tillage. Significant deterioration of phytosanitary condition at beardless and disk tillage resulted in significant reduction of crop rotation productivity in comparison with control. In the fields with combined and disk treatments, the productivity value was almost the same.