Soil cultivation efficiency in pasture management of the arid zone of Central Asia and Kazakhstan

Abstract

Research work on the radical improvement of pastures with the sowing of prostrate rods (Kochia prostrate) against the background of plowing the soil to the depth of 20-22 cm has been carried out in the CIS countries since 1936 to this day. Despite the long-term study, in modern conditions, there are no industrial sowing of prostrate rods in Kazakhstan. The repeated attempts to introduce rods into production have failed. The long-term experiments (more than 50 years) have shown that Kochia prostrate does not sprout every year (approximately, two years out of five years, and then in places and sporadically). In one place full-fledged seedlings are provided, and in another place they are absent. That is, tillage does not provide the required efficiency. In this review, on the basis of original studies, the development of soil conditions for the growth of Kochia prostrate during soil cultivation is detailed. As known, when plowing, the upper fertile soil horizon is thrown down and it is buried by the less fertile, more structureless soil of the lower horizons. This, firstly, leads to the development of a hard crust impenetrable by Kochia prostrate sprouts and, secondly, when dry, solid soil blocks are formed under the seeds, impermeable by hypocatilny roots of Kochia prostrate. Therefore, sprouts of either die during dump plowing, or full-fledged shoots are not formed on it. The current dead-end situation with soil cultivation can be corrected by developing a new theoretical concept and, on its basis, developing a technology for soil cultivation and Kochia prostrate cultivation.