The effect of natural moisture availability on the yield of Agropyron in arid conditions of the south of Russia

Abstract

The Volgograd right bank belongs to a very arid natural and climatic zone (HTC 0.3-0.7), the main limiting factor of which is the moisture supply of plants. Therefore, this study was aimed at establishing the influence of the moisture availability of the region and meteorological factors, as well as the timing and methods of sowing on the yield of Agropyron cristatum and Agropyron fragile in arid agro-climatic conditions on light chestnut salty soils of southern Russia. The research was carried out at the experimental production field of the Research Centre of Agroecology of the Russian Academy of Sciences in the period from 2019 to 2022. Field experiments, records, analyses and statistical processing were carried out in accordance with the methodology of field and agrotechnical research with forage crops. Methods of mathematical statistics of the STATGRAPHICS program and the MatLab package were used to process and analyze the results obtained. A close correlation was noted between the yield of Agropyron and moisture reserves (r=0.935) at the autumn sowing period. A close positive relationship (r=0.859-0.856) was noted with the ordinary and cross-seeding method between the moisture reserves in the soil and the crop yield, which indicates a high value of moisture availability during the formation of the phytomass of the crop. Close links between the hydrothermal coefficient (HTC) of the growing season and the yield of Agropyron were noted in April (r=0.960), when plants grew intensively and required sufficient moisture. A promising species can be called Agropyron fragile, the yield of which is 5.0-8.4% higher than the yield of Agropyron cristatum. Moreover, Agropyron produces the highest yields in the third year of life (3.16-3.30 t/ha).