Improvement of soybean cultivation technology in the southern forest-steppe of western Siberia

Abstract

Legumes contribute significantly to the nitrogen balance of agrocenosis and terrestrial ecosystems. They fix the free air nitrogen and convert it into forms available to other plants. Legumes are a powerful biological factory of nitrogen fertilizers. The soils are enriched with available forms of nitrogen up to 80 kg/ha during the growing season. This process occurs due to the soil organic matter, stubble, and root residues left after harvesting soybeans. An increased planted area of soybeans in the rotation promotes a significant improvement in the growing conditions of other crops and increases their yield without additional costs. The crop yield is not significantly affected by soil treatment using herbicides in the conditions of the southern forest-steppe of Western Siberia. It is impossible to reduce the infestation of soybean crops to an economically harmless level with the use of a single herbicide. Due to a single application of herbicide and nitrogen-phosphate fertilizers, the yield of soybeans increases by an average of 0.46 t/ha or 51.7%.