Optimal doses of fertilizer application against the background of resource-saving soil cultivation technologies in the Steppe zone of Russia

Abstract

A stationary experiment presented the data on the effect of optimal and increased doses of organic and mineral fertilizers against the background of various tillage systems on productivity, quality and soil fertility of the southern chernozems of the steppe zone of Russia. The rotation of crops was as follows: complete fallow - winter wheat - winter barley - corn for green fodder - winter wheat - fallow occupied (Vika panonskaya + winter wheat) - winter wheat - spring barley - sunflower. The soil of the experimental plot is represented by southern low humus chernozem on loess like light clays, the humus horizon is up to 40–50 cm. The optimal fertilizer doses, irrespective of the method of cultivating the soil, increased the yield of grain crops of the crop rotation from 4.2 to 9.7 centners per hectare, green mass of corn and Wiko-wheat mixture by 15.2 and 48.5 centners per hectare, respectively. The glassiness of the grain in the control on average was 44.8%, the generally accepted dose of fertilizing increased it by 7%. Accordingly, the amount of raw gluten also increased with control—23.9%, 28.7, and 30%. Therefore, the optimal fertilizer doses affected the quality indicators, and a 1.5-fold increase in the dose increased the wheat grain quality indicators by only 0.7–0.9 times. The amount of protein in the grain of winter wheat and winter barley, spring barley increased with fertilizer from 10.1 to 12.7%. According to the fallow precursor (complete and seeded), higher quality indicators were obtained in comparison with non-steam precursors.