Experience in implementation of the No-till farming system in the Belgorod region

Abstract

The research was conducted in a forest-steppe zone of the municipality of “Korochan district” (Belgorod region). Typical and leached chernozem constituted the two types of soils, that were studied. The goal was to evaluate the main results of introduction of the No-till farming system, following the example of LLC “Meat Farms – Iskra”. It was found out that on average, throughout the years of 2018-2022, winter wheat was the most regular (24.5%), alongside sunflower (23.2%). Legumes prevalence was at 32.5% with soy (20.0%). Organic fertilizer wasn’t used in the process; however, the average dose of mineral fertilizers was 66 kg of the substance/ha, which is 42.4% lower than the average for Belgorod region. The usage of the system No-till yield the sunflower, soy and corn-beans, as well as winter wheat plantings corresponded to 2.21, 1.65, 6.35 and 4.43 t/ha, which is lower by 23.5, 20.7, 11.2,10.9% when compared with the average throughout Belgorod region. The quantity of organic substances in the arable layer of the soil underwent an increase of 0, 14%, the quantity of mobile forms of phosphorus and potassium went down by 12 and 28 mg/kg accordingly, the dose of acidic soils decreased by 8,7%. The amount of mobile forms of sulfur and microelements didn’t particularly change. The profitability of crop production using the No-till system was 82.3%, which is 1.29 times higher than the average of the Belgorod region.