Mechanical Tillage Research Articles

Weed cover controls soil and water losses in rainfed olive groves in Sierra de Enguera, eastern Iberian Peninsula

Soil erosion is a threat for the sustainability of agriculture and severely affects the Mediterranean crops. Olive groves are among the rainfed agriculture lands that exhibit soil and water losses due to the impact of unsustainable practices such as conventional tillage and herbicides abuse. To achieve a more sustainable olive oil production, alternative, greener crop management practices need to be tested in the field. Here, a weed cover (CW) treatment is tested at an olive tree plantation that has undergone conventional mechanical tillage for 20 years and results were compared against an adjacent control plantation that maintained tillage as a weed control strategy (CO). Both plantations were under the same tillage management for centuries and macroscopic analysis confirms they are otherwise comparable. Compared to the CO, where tilled soil cover was zero, 20 years of CW (weeds cover 64%; litter cover 5%) had led to significantly higher values of soil bulk density and soil organic matter. Results from rainfall simulation experiments at 55 mm h−1 on 0.25 m2 plots under CO (N = 25) and CW (N = 25) show that as a result of the improved soil structure, CW (i) reduced soil losses by two orders of magnitude (140 times), (ii) decreased runoff yield by one order of magnitude (from 2.65 till 27.6% of the rainfall), (iii) significantly reduced runoff sediment concentration (from 18.6 till 1.43 g l−1), and (iv) significantly delayed runoff generation (CO = 273 s; CW = 788 s). These results indicate that weed cover is a sustainable land management practice in Mediterranean olive groves and promotes sustainable agriculture production in mountainous areas under rainfed conditions, which are typically affected by high erosion rates such those found in the CO plots. Due to the spontaneous recovery of plant cover, we conclude that weed cover is an excellent nature-based solution to increase in the soil organic matter content and soil erosion reduction in rainfed olive orchards.

The Glyphosate Assemblage: Herbicides, Uneven Development, and Chemical Geographies of Ubiquity

The ubiquity of chemicals demands new ways of thinking about human–nature assemblages. This article develops a dialogue between agrarian political economy, critical commodity chains research, and chemical geographies through a case study of the world’s most widely used agrochemical: glyphosate, commonly known as Monsanto’s Roundup. In the 1980s, glyphosate triumphed as a benign biocide that promised both safety and effectiveness. This construct made possible a capitalist agricultural assemblage characterized by chemical pervasiveness, first as a chemical replacement for mechanical tillage and since the 1990s as the chemical input for genetically modified seed packages. The ubiquity that characterizes the glyphosate assemblage is also a geography of uneven development comprising shifting firm networks, policies, and trade. Central to this assemblage since 2000, yet largely ignored, is the outsized expansion of second- and third-tier generic pesticide producers, especially in China, for whom glyphosate is part of a network entry and upgrading development strategy. Today, the glyphosate assemblage faces unprecedented challenges from weed resistance and health controversies. Whether and how the herbicide assemblage restabilizes will be determined by the complex environmental and developmental challenges of chemical agriculture and pervasive chemicals broadly, which highlights the need for a transdisciplinary dialogue that cuts across these domains.

Productivity of crop rotation by the main tillage in the Tyumen region

The problem of tillage is one of the most pressing in agriculture and the most controversial. Mechanical tillage is the most common type of work in agriculture, without which it is hardly possible to cultivate crops. The research was carried out on the experimental field of the Department of Agriculture of the State Agrarian University of the Northern Trans-Urals in 2008–2016. The soil is leached chernozem of heavy loamy granulometric composition with morphological features and properties typical for Western Siberia. As a result of the long-term research, the effectiveness of differentiated main soil processing while the cultivation of crops in the crop rotation was established. It should be noted that the yield of spring wheat is higher when placed with the first crop after the full fallow, the yield of the second spring wheat after the full fallow is lower than the yield of the first wheat. Reducing the depth of processing led to a decrease in the yield of cultivated crops. In terms of crop rotation, the highest yield of fodder and grain units per hectare was obtained by differentiated deep processing, which is higher than the control (moldboard) and moldboard-free. As a result of a decrease in the depth of processing, there was a decrease in the yield of fodder and grain units. The lowest yield of both fodder and grain units was obtained in the fields without main processing. In the northern forest-steppe of the Tyumen region, the cultivation of agricultural crops (annual grasses, spring wheat) is effective in terms of differentiated main tillage in crop rotation.

Application of laser profilograph in the assessment of mechanical tillage of slope lands

The article analyzes an extensive set of measurements of the daily surface profile of cultivated soil in order to justify the moving average method for evaluating morphological parameters and studying the influence of the base length of the profile on the accuracy of the obtained values. The surface roughness for the elementary platform was 5.08 mm, the surface ridge formed by technological furrows was 21.9 mm, and the slope of the platform was 0.056 or 3.2 degrees. The accuracy of the obtained values of roughness and ridges of the surface of the treated soil depends significantly on the length of the profile under study, determined by the number of measurements performed. For one turn of the device for the elementary platform, 9616 data points were obtained on the profile length of 6.3 m (3 measurements are performed per 2 mm). The surface roughness varied from 2 mm to 6 mm, and the ridge – 16 ... 28 mm with the number of measurements from 2000 to 9600. When the measured profile length is about 1.3 m or less (no more than 2000 points), the parameters of the treated soil cover are greatly underestimated, and this error is greater for ploughed soil than for cored soil. On flatter surfaces, the base profile length of 2.5 m may be sufficient to adequately calculate the parameters of the daily soil surface.

Курганцева миша (Mus spicilegus) на Західному Поділлі: експансія на лівобережжі Дністра

New findings of the mound-building mouse on the left bank of the Dniester in the interfluve of its tributaries—the Dzhuryn and the Nichlava (Chortkiv Raion, Ternopil Oblast)—are described. The presence of Mus spicilegus was established based on findings of food stocks common for this species in the form of mounds, which are easy to detect in the field and which can be clearly diagnosed. Both single mounds and their clusters were taken into account. The specifics of biotopic distribution, formation of food reserves, and the role in trophic chains of this species under conditions of the studied region are indicated. The mound-building mouse is one of the few rodent species that maintain a high abundance under conditions of intensive agriculture, which involves mechanical tillage several times a year and a significant level of chemical use. The distribution of the studied species is influenced primarily by two factors: the level of agricultural techniques in agricultural production (arable farming and crop care, quality of harvesting) and the distance from uncultivated areas. The mound-building mouse usually inhabits agricultural lands with a low level of agriculture (minimal chemicalization and mechanical tillage). These are lands allocated for private gardening or farming. Such lands have increased weeds and crop losses during harvesting, which creates a rich food base. After harvesting, such lands usually do not undergo long-term tillage. Results show that the settlement of arable lands comes from natural or other uncultivated areas, where the nuclei of populations are concentrated. In autumn, under the above favourable conditions, population growth is observed in adjacent cultivated lands, where winter food reserves are formed in the form of characteristic mounds. On large-area crops of monocultures cultivated by large agricultural firms, mounds are usually absent. The level of agro-technical pressure on the same area varies from year to year. This causes temporary instability in the appearance of mounds. They disappear where anthropogenic impact has re-emerged significantly and re-appear where there has been a weakening. The role of the mound-building mouse in trophic chains and in maintaining regional biodiversity is shown.

Influence of Different Types of Land Use on Prokaryotic Communities and Organic Matter Stabilization in Soddy-Podzolic Soil

The influence of crop rotation with different saturation with legumes and continuous grain crops (winter rye and spring barley) on the structure of prokaryotic communities and preservation of soil organic matter has been studied in a long-term stationary experiment (1977–2018) on a soddy-podzolic soil (Eutric Albic Retisol (Abruptic, Loamic, Cutanic)) of Perm oblast. Permanent black fallow and unmanaged fallow were used as reference standards. Minimum values of the coefficients of mineralization (0.37) and pedotrophicity (0.28) calculated on the basis of direct counting of microbial colonies cultivated on standard nutrient media (MPA, SAA, and SA) have been found in the unmanaged fallow soil, and maximum values of these coefficients (1.97 and 1.30, respectively) were found in the black fallow soil. Inverse relationships were found between the Corg content in the soil and the mineralization coefficient (r = –0.67; p crop rotation (0–28.6–42.9% of legumes) > continuous grain crop > permanent black fallow, In the cultivated and black fallow soils, along with general decrease in the organic matte stock, its lability increased as evidenced by the Cha : Cfa ratio (0.55–0.79), which were lower than in the unmanaged fallow soil (0.96). The closest negative correlation (r = –0.81; p < 0.001) was observed between the mineralization coefficient and the Cha : Cfa ratio. It has been also shown that different uses of soddy-podzolic soil were accompanied by structural rearrangements of the actinomycetal complex selected as a model group of soil microorganisms. In particular, regular mechanical tillage and application of mineral fertilizers (N60P30K60) contributed to an increase in the species spectrum of streptomyces, a change in the frequency of occurrence and relative abundance of individual sections and series, and a change in dominant forms. The results of this study demonstrated the possibility of using microbiological indicators as biomarkers of the state of soil organic matter.

Conservation Agriculture: A Way for Soil Water Conservation

World population is going on increasing, it may be 2.4 billion by 2050, but stabilizing the yield of crop is questionable in Indian agriculture due to improper management of agricultural land. Excess tillage accelerate the organic matter oxidation present on the top soil, soil erosion and creates subsurface hard pan. This makes the field unsuitable for cultivation of crops in future. Climate change is worsening the situation by imposing water scarcity in India. So to evade these problems, conservation agriculture is the only way. Main objectives of conservation agriculture is reducing tillage, year round cropping, crop rotation, mulching may be live or residue. Due to reduced mechanical tillage, activity of micro flora and macro flora get increases that improves biological tillage of soil, that in turn improves soil structure and enhances the plant growth. Most of the studies showed that the cost of wheat production and CO2 emission from the field is reduced when conservation agriculture was fallowed in rice-wheat cropping system. Crop rotation and also mixed cropping improves soil fertility and also it reduces soil erosion. It can be a part of climate smart agriculture. It reduces greenhouse gas emission and also it can improve carbon sequestration. Considerably it can save 20-30% of water.

FEATURES OF FORMATION THE COSTS OF THE ORGANIC CROP PRODUCTS PRODUCTION

Improving the efficiency of agricultural production while reducing the anthropogenic load on the environment and natural resources can be achieved through the development of organic production as an alternative model of management. Unlike other methods of agriculture, organic production is based on the use of resource-saving technologies, minimization of mechanical tillage and eliminates the use of synthetic substances. The priority for organic agriculture is the use of materials and technologies that improve the ecological balance in natural systems and contribute to the creation of sustainable and balanced agro-ecological systems. The peculiarity of organic production is that the production, processing, packaging and storage of products are subject to certification by the relevant authorized institutions. The lack of own national standards for organic products necessitates certification with the help of international standards and national standards of other countries. Under such conditions, the products obtained are exported mainly to the countries of jurisdiction of the companies that have authorized the relevant certification bodies. In addition, the development of domestic organic production is complicated by the underdevelopment of the regulatory framework. Organic production allows implementing the concept of balanced development of the agricultural sector on the basis of socio-economic, natural resource balance and aims to provide society with safe and quality food, as well as preserving and improving the environment. The main goal of an organic agricultural enterprise, along with the production of organic products and meeting consumer demand, is to maximize profits. Profit generation is a continuous process that includes a set of actions to ensure the coordination of income and expenses of the enterprise in order to obtain and maximize their positive balance. Costs are the main limiter of profit and at the same time the main factor influencing the supply of organic products. The lack of developed standard documents for accounting for the costs of production of organic crop products necessitates the independent formation of a package of primary documents by business entities. At the same time, the standards of organic production, the requirements of current legislation on the production, circulation and labeling of organic plant products, the technology of its production must be taken into account. When determining the cost items, it is necessary not only to competently form their structure, but also to give comprehensive characteristics of the composition of each item. This is especially true of the specific costs of organic production. The use in practice of accounting for the proposed nomenclature of cost items will allow differentiating the costs provided by the technological conditions of organic production and allowed by law and the costs of which there are certain restrictions. This, in turn, will improve the information support of the control function of organic production management and provide an opportunity to reasonably calculate the cost of organic crop production.

Modern Methods to Provide Resource Security of Agricultural Land-Use

Protection and rational use of agricultural land resources is an urgent subject of scientific research and a state task due to new challenges to humanity: the growth of the Earth’s population, climate change, deterioration and soil fertility. In this regard, the article examines the resource security of land use. In particular, the authors analyze the availability of sown areas and their structure in Ukraine for 1990-2021 and conclude that their reduction by 12.4% and irrational use, namely: non-compliance with the Standards of optimal ratio of crops in crop rotations in different natural and agricultural regions, especially standards for areas under fodder crops, perennial and annual grasses. The article also analyzes the preservation of the balance between the removal of nutrients from the soil by crops and compensatory application of mineral and organic fertilizers. The authors conclude that catastrophically low levels of organic fertilizer application due to repeated shrinkage of livestock and poultry in 1990-2020. As a result, the fertility of agricultural land is reduced, the soil loses the most valuable component – humus. The article identifies phenomena dangerous to the resource security of agriculture: significant spread of water and wind erosion, salinization and acidification, intensive mechanical tillage, soil pollution due to emissions from industrial enterprises, livestock complexes, vehicles (especially cars), violations of the rules of extraction, transportation and processing of minerals, application and storage of agrochemicals and pesticides, utilization and storage of waste. The authors substantiate the feasibility of greening agricultural land use using the following areas and methods: carrying out of the proper land management and streamlining of structure of sown areas according to the specifications approved by the government; improving the balance between removal and compensatory application of nutrients through the use of green manure, straw, nutrient residues, sapropel, peat, vermiculture development; streamlining of lease relations in order to strengthen land protection; anti-erosion measures, liming and plastering of soils; improvement of agricultural machinery in order to significantly reduce the physical degradation of arable land; reduction of field pollution by industrial, transport and other emissions; changes in attitudes to land use, the development of its ecological culture

Агрофізичні показники грунту за вирощування ячменю озимого в Закарпатті України

The article presents importance, objectives and results of different methods of basic tillage under different predecessors for its agrophysical properties for growing winter barley in Transcarpathia Ukraine. Soils of the experimental field are soddy podzolic gleyed, which contain on average 2.6% humus in the humus horizon. With depth, the amount of humus decreases gradually and at a depth of 100-130 cm it reaches another 1,0-1,7%. The soil is typical for the research area, on average provided with mobile forms of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Qualitative assessment of the surveyed soils showed that the soils require constant use of organic and mineral fertilizers, liming and crop rotation. Soil density is an important indicator of the physical properties of the soil, which affects not only on soil conditions, but also on its quality of cultivation, which ultimately effects on the yield and quality of the crop. During the sowing period of winter barley, the most favorable indicators of the bulk density of 0-10 cm of the soil layer were provided by all main tillage systems. The average soil density in the variants of the main cultivation ranged from 1.09 to 1.17 g/cm3, at HIP0,5 0.01 g/cm3. At a depth of 10-20 cm, the average volumetric mass of the soil during plowing was 1.14 g/cm3, during chisel cultivation it was without significant differences – 1.15 g/cm3. Conducting shallow tillage by 12-14 cm and surface by 6-8 cm was accompanied by an increase in bulk density to 1.16 and .1.19 g/cm3, respectively. Situation was similar in the soil layer 20-30 cm: for shallow tillage the average density was at the level of 1,24 g/cm3, and for surface - 1.25 g/cm3. Predecessors didn't significantly effect on the change in the density of the tillage layer of the soil. However, after maize for grain and sunflower, there is a tendency to increase the bulk density of the soil after shelfless shallow and surface tillage, especially in the lower layers of the soil. This soil density was at the level of 1.24-1.26 g/cm3, which didn’t exceed the optimum. Loosened in the process of mechanical tillage of the soil during the growing season under the influence of its own weight, moisture and drying self-compacts to equilibrium density. Therefore, during the period of earing and harvesting of winter barley, the soil was gradually compacted to natural values. In the 0-10 cm layer of soil the bulk density varied in the range of 1.20-1.27 g/cm3, in the soil layer 10-20 cm – 1.25-1.30 g/cm3 and 20-30 cm – 1.34-1.37 g/cm3. Density (porosity) is important for the effective activity of microorganisms, growth and development of the root system of plants and accumulation of moisture in the soil. It was found that long-term use of shelf and shelf-free tillage didn’t reduce the overall density below 50% of the structure of the treated layer, which ensured high productivity of cultivated plants. With shelf-free surface and shallow tillage, the total slit in the lower layers was up to 50% of the structure of the cultivation layer, and in some cases less than 47%. This structure of the cultivation layer negatively affected on the water and air regimes of the soil, the growth and development of the root system and, ultimately, the yield of winter barley. The highest yield of winter barley was obtained after buckwheat, winter rape and soybeans (6.0-6.3 t/ha) for selfless chisel tillage by 20-22 cm. After corn for grain and sunflower, the yield was 5.1-5.7 t/ha.

Soil aggregation with various cover crops in Ginkgo biloba L. plantations

Ginkgo biloba is an exotic plant for Ukraine that is nowadays becoming popular for parks and landscape gardening. Raw materials (leaves) of these plants are used as medicinal, and in the context of organic production has pharmaceutical significance. At Sumy National Agrarian University fields Ginkgo biloba is grown by seedling method, young seedlings are transplanted into the open ground, in an area where the plants are grown without chemical synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. Row spacing between Ginkgo plants is 3 m and in case of high temperature and dry growing season the survival rate is reduced. The use of cover crops in the rows of Ginkgo biloba can help the plant cope with temperature stress, regulate the structural and nutrient status of the soil. We conducted one experiment with some common cover crops for Forest-steppe of Ukraine such as a phacelia, white clover, red clover, ryegrass, sainfoin, white mustard during growing seasons 2019‒2020. Sites planted in the spring between the rows of Ginkgo. At the end of August, soil samples to a depth of 0‒10, 10‒20, 20‒30 cm were collected to determine the structural and aggregate composition. These samples after reaching the air-dry state were sieved (dry method) and determined the percentage of soil particles with different diameters and structural coefficient soil. The percentage of agronomically valuable structure depended on the mechanical tillage on the site without and with cover crops, weather conditions. In the site without cover crops with mechanical tillage for weed control, the highest percentage of aggregates with a diameter of 10‒0.25 mm and coefficient of structure in layers of 0‒10 and 20‒30 cm was obtained. White mustard and white clover cover crops have shown the best result in good soil aggregation in the 0‒10 cm layer. In the layer of 10‒20 cm, the coefficient of structure was the highest in sites with white clover, respectively agronomically valuable structure was 69.6 %, slightly less with mustard 68.3 % and sainfoin 68.8 %. In a layer of 20‒30 cm sainfoin and clover among other cover crops showed the best result, the coefficient of structure was 2.7. Lastly, further research is needed to choose the best cover crop for Ginkgo biloba young plantations which help the plants to pass strongly through to environmental stressful condition. Additional researches are needed for cover crops selection and their mixtures, terms of sowings, times of cutting should be studied.

ПРИЕМОВ ВОЗДЕЛЫВАНИЯ В УСЛОВИЯХ ЛЕСОСТЕПНОЙ ЗОНЫ ПОВОЛЖЬЯ

The article presents the results of evaluating the productivity of corn hybrids for grain with different vegetation periods, depending on the method of protecting plants from contamination and the level of mineral nutrition on leached сhernozem of the Volga forest-steppe zone. Studies conducted during 2017- 2019 showed that the early-maturing hybrids of Gitago maize FAO 200 and the phenomenon of FAO 220 fully realized their potential and provided yield of 8.31 and 8.55 t / ha of grain. These hybrids are characterized by a higher collection of raw protein, the output of exchange energy and feed units in comparison with the hybrids Talisman FAO 180 and Novatop FAO 240. Systems of crop protection from weeds had an impact on both the yield and productivity of corn, which is explained by the different effectiveness of inter-row processing and herbicide in protecting plants from weeds. Thus, when inter-row processing was used, the number of weeds in hybrids averaged 8.4 PCs/m2 , while when applying herbicide, it decreased to 5.1 pcs/m2 , a similar pattern was found when assessing the air-dry mass of weeds, which was 65, 2 g/m2 and 27.5 g / m2 , respectively. On average, the corn grain yield in hybrids increased by 0.92 t/ha when applying herbicide compared to mechanical tillage. The use of leaf fertilizing during the growing season with Izagri Azot and Izagri Zn preparations led to an increase in the yield of corn hybrids: Talisman by 0.57 t/ha, Gitago by 0.48, Phenomenon by 0.81 and Novotop by 0.44 t/ha of grain, as well as an increase in protein collection, exchange energy and feed units when using leaf fertilizing

Mulching as best management practice to reduce surface runoff and erosion in steep clayey olive groves

No-tillage and soil mulching with pruning residues, applied in olive groves of the semi-arid Mediterranean environment, as erosion control practices still practice not fully studied. This study has evaluated the saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ksat), surface runoff (SR) and soil erosion (SL) under rainfall at plot scale throughout two years in four different management practices, total soil cover with a net (SP), mechanical tillage (MT) and mulching by vegetal residues at 3,5·103 and 17,5·103 kg ha−1 of dry matter (NTR350 and NTR1750), in an olive grove of Southern Italy. Ksat varied between 1.6 (MT) and 25.1 (NTR1750) mm/h. A clear reduction in runoff and soil losses was detected for the mulch-based practices when compared to MT, from 20 to 32% in the runoff coefficient and 75–80% in SL, with higher reductions in the NTR1750. This reduction in SL can be mainly explained by the reduction in SR and rain-splash, interrill and rill erosion, due to protection by mulch residues, which increased the vegetal cover and organic matter content of mulched plots. The vegetal cover was on average higher in SP (33%), NTR1750 (25%) and NTR350 (22%), and lower in MT (12%). The mean organic matter content of soil was 2.01%, 1.69%,1.34% and 0.82% for NTR1750, NTR350, SP and MT respectively.Overall, the results quantify the impact of soil mulching with pruning residues at different doses, which will provide guidelines to control and mitigate the hydrological response of clayey and steep soils in Mediterranean olive groves, analysing the associated environmental and economic benefits.

Influence of different intensity methods of basic processing of podzolized chernozem on the state of fertility and productivity of crops

Relevance . In the conditions of the Ryazan region, a significant part of the soil cover has not quite favorable properties (high equilibrium density and low water resistance), so the choice of the optimal cultivation system for a certain type of soil is one of the main conditions for increasing fertility, as well as a guarantee of obtaining high yields of cultivated crops. Material and methods . The article presents the results of studies for three crop rotation rotations (1992-2017) to study the effect of soil cultivation systems on the agrophysical properties of podzolized chernozem (degraded) and crop productivity in the conditions of the south of the Central Non-Black Earth Region using generally accepted agricultural techniques for this zone. The duration of the studies made it possible to cover periods different in meteorological conditions. Results . A comparative analysis of the effectiveness of five options for mechanical tillage systems has been carried out, the use of which contributes to the softening of the soil and increase its porosity to 51.9-53.9% compared with the initial rate of 48.3-48.7%. The number of water-resistant units increased by 17.2-19.8% compared with the initial data. Over the years of the experiment, the ability of the soil to retain moisture has increased, the lowest moisture capacity, which has increased from 26.1% to 32.0% during three rotation of the crop rotation. The productivity of cultivated crops was determined, which, depending on the applied treatment systems, increased by 10.2-22.7%. The strengths and weaknesses of each of the five main soil tillage systems presented were identified and energy efficiency coefficients (CEE) were calculated.

Soil management and environmental sustainability of crop-livestock systems

Uruguay experienced an expansion of the cropped area in the last decades motivated by market conditions: price of grains, differences in the relative land value, and regional tax policies. This change affected the crop-livestock production system, mainly in soil quality and system sustainability. The available information on soil erosion and organic carbon content (soc) allowed to validate the models usle/rusle and century, which demonstrated the advantages of crop-pasture rotations compared to continuous cropping. No-till represented an outstanding advance, by reducing mechanical tillage. The drop in soil organic carbon was correlated with a productivity decrease, mainly due to the lower availability of nutrients and limitations in the physical properties of the soil. The Global Soil Alliance of fao highlights the three most important threats on sustainable soil management: erosion, loss of organic carbon, and nutrient imbalance. The main public policy in Uruguay is the application of the Law of Soil and Surface Water Conservation. The principal measure is that cropping cannot present erosion estimates above the official tolerance for the dominant soil used. It became mandatory in 2013, and currently, 96% of the obliged area has complied with the presentation of the plans, covering 1.6 Mha. In 2018, a proposal for the Environmental Plan for Sustainable Development based on agroecology elements was generated from the Environmental Ministerial Office. Crop-pasture rotations include varied plant and animal production, and comply with most agroecology elements, minimizing erosion and maintaining or recovering soc.

ПРОТИВОЭРОЗИОННАЯ ЭФФЕКТИВНОСТЬ ТЕХНОЛОГИИ ОСВОЕНИЯ ЗАЛЕЖНЫХ ЗЕМЕЛЬ В СТЕПНОЙ ЗОНЕ

Research was conducted with the aim of developing technology for the development of fallow lands in the south of Central Siberia. The work was carried out in 2012-2015 on chestnut soil (experiment 1) and southern chernozem (experiment 2) in the Republic of Khakassia. The humus content in the 0 ... 20 cm layer of chestnut soil is 2.67%, N-NO3 is 20.1 ... 22.4 mg/kg, P2O5 and K2O (according to Machigin) are 23.5 and 328 mg/kg, respectively, in southern chernozem - respectively 4.5%, 16.6 ... 19.2, 19.3 and 720 mg/kg. The experimental designs provided for various combinations of mechanical tillage and spraying with herbicides of fallow plots, performed at different times, in the year preceding the sowing of crops. In technologies using herbicides in August, the amount of conditional stubble in spring was 60 pcs/m2 more, and erosion was 1.7 ... 2.5 times lower than in versions with flat cutting. The dumping of chestnut soil increases the yield of green mass of oats, compared with flat-cut, by 2.5 t/ha (24.5%), corn - by 4.0 t/ha (31.2%). In the southern chernozem, the technology with plowing ensured the formation of 5.7 t/ha of green mass of oats, which is 0.5 t/ha (8.8%) more than during flat cutting. In general, in the steppe zone of Central Siberia, the use of plowing in the technology for the development of fallow lands increases their productivity, while the greatest protection of the soil from erosion is provided by replacing its mechanical treatment in August with spraying with herbicides

Controlling arable weeds with natural substances as bio-based herbicides.

Today farmers manage arable weeds with chemical tools or mechanical tillage practices. While the heavy reliance on synthetic herbicides in conventional arable farming is under discussion, the environmentally driven trend towards reduced tillage as a climate-smart agricultural practice becomes more prominent. These trends demand for alternative control methods of weeds. This greenhouse study investigates the control of 21 arable weeds with four natural substances. The experimental setup compared an untreated control with four natural substances (acetic, citric and pelargonic acid and magnesium chloride), and glyphosate was used as the common active ingredient for stubble and presowing herbicide applications. The level of necrotisation (0-100%) was used to assess the efficacy of herbicide treatment. The efficacy differs substantially among the bio-based herbicides. For all natural substances, pelargonic acid has the highest mean efficacy for controlling the weeds tested in this experiment. For most weeds, however, the efficacy of natural substances is much lower compared to glyphosate. Nevertheless, the results indicate that natural substances as bio-based herbicides have the potential to offer an increased target specificity and rapid degradation in the soil. We found a high efficacy of pelargonic acid for controlling Brassica napus.

Intensive agricultural technologies of winter wheat cultivation in the Middle Volga region

The article describes agricultural technologies increasing nitrate nitrogen content in the soil, crop yield, protein content and its fractional composition in winter wheat grain in the Middle Volga region. An economic and energy assessment of the effectiveness of winter wheat cultivation is provided for various predecessors, methods of primary tillage and fertilizing. Long-term studies were carried out on the fields of the Department of Agriculture, the laboratory “Agroecology” of Samara State Agricultural Academy. When cultivating winter wheat using the black fallow method, without autumn mechanical tillage with double application of nitrogen fertilizing, the highest yield indicators (2.79 t/ha), protein content of 13.12 %, the maximum net income, profitability of 92 % and energy efficiency were achieved. The energy efficiency coefficient in crops was the largest with the lowest energy coefficient in proteins.

Application of profilograph for evaluation of mechanical tillage of slope lands

In this paper, we analyze a wide range of measurements of the day surface profile of tilled soil in order to substantiate the moving average method for evaluating morphological parameters and studying the influence of the base profile length on the accuracy of the obtained values. The surface roughness of the elementary plot was 4 mm, the surface ridgeness formed by technological furrows was 16 mm, and the slope of the plot was 0.198. The accuracy of the obtained values of roughness and ridgeness of the tilled soil surface depends significantly on the profile length determined by the number of measurements performed. We obtained 5273 data points per one turn of the device on a 6.3 m profile length (1 measurements are made per 1 mm) for the elementary plot. The surface roughness varied from 3, 1 mm to 4, 3 mm, and the ridgeness – 12 ... 21 mm when the number of measurements is from 2000 to 5273. When the measured profile length is about 1.3 m or less (not more 2000 points), the parameters of the tilled soil cover are not considered important. However, they are more critical for ploughed soil than for harrowed soil. On flatter surfaces, the base profile length of 2.5 m may be sufficient to adequately calculate the parameters of the day soil surface.

Crop Production and Environmental Impacts under Organic Management with Reduced Tillage and Diversified Cropping

In the Canadian Prairies, organic agriculture has traditionally relied on summer fallow and mechanical tillage for nutrient and pest management. More recently, there has been a substantial increase in the use of legume green manure, diversified crop rotations, and reduced tillage. The objectives of this study were to determine if diversified crop rotations and reduced tillage under organic management can maintain soil fertility and quality at adequate levels, keep weed populations at low levels, and foster healthy plants for sustainable and profitable production of annual crops. Earn 1.5 CEUs in Crop Management by reading this article and taking the quiz at https://www.certifiedcropadviser.org/education/classroom/classes/692.