Soil Treatment Methods Research Articles

Research and development of a combined unit for tillage with a layer turnover

The article deals with the issue of mechanization of the process of ecological and meliorative tillage with the turnover of the reservoir, improving the quality and reducing the energy intensity of the arable unit. The state of modern research of ecological and meliorative methods of soil treatment is studied. The modernization of the plow was carried out and a variant of a new design was proposed in the form of chisel working bodies instead of pre-lugs to the coulter plow. At the same time, the improvement of the methods of dump plowing does not violate the main principle of the plow body – falling off and turning the formation into an uncovered neighboring furrow. A review of the theoretical prerequisites for the substantiation of the design parameters of chisel working bodies is carried out. The optimal parameters of the chisel chisel working bodies operation process are determined, depending on the type of chisel and its surface area. Scientific research was carried out according to the strategy of machine-technological modernization of agriculture in Russia, aimed at increasing labor productivity growth, which does not exclude technological re-equipment of agriculture.

Role and significance of treatment in modern farming systems

The article deals with the influence of various methods of basic soil treatment on indicators of soil fertility and productivity of grain crop rotation crops at the experimental field of the Centre for precision farming. This center is based on the field experiment with the total area of about 6 hectares in the comparative study of precision and traditional farming technologies, as well as basic soil treatment techniques in a four-course crop rotation with alternating of crops: vetch and oat mixture for feed-winter wheat with stubble sowing of mustard for green manure-potatoes-barley. Two factors are studied in the experiment, namely technologies of field crops cultivation and methods of basic soil treatment. It is found that for most years, dump treatment was in the lead, primarily on a vetch and oat mixture and potatoes. The overall conclusion is that there are various degrees of manifestation interdependence between crops productivity and individual indicators of soil fertility, depending on treatment. The use of various agricultural methods that improve the rates of agrophysical, biological and agrochemical indicators will prevent the beginning of soil degradation in the field experiment of the center for precision farming and will stabilize soil characteristics at a sufficiently high level.

Effectiveness of Microbially Induced Calcite Precipitation for Treating Expansive Soils

Abstract Expansive soil is a high-plasticity clay that expands rapidly when wetted or soaked with water and shrinks and cracks when it dries. Soil expansion often causes instability problems during construction of roadbeds or embankments. Microbially induced calcite precipitation (MICP), a novel soil treatment method, has drawn increased attention in recent decades because of its environmental friendliness and good performance in soil solidification. In this paper, the expansive soil slope treatment with MICP for the Yangtze-Jiangxi-Huaihe River Diversion Project in China is presented. The effectiveness and mechanism of Sporosarcina pasteurii bacteria for inhibiting soil expansion were investigated experimentally. The results indicated that MICP treatment can significantly reduce the swelling and deformation of expansive soil and showed that the MICP treatment was feasible and effective in inhibiting soil expansion. X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy were adopted to study the changes in soil mineralogy after MICP treatment. These techniques helped to reveal the mechanism of MICP in treating expansive soils.

Reuse of COVID-19 face mask for the amelioration of mechanical properties of fat clay: A novel solution to an emerging waste problem

Not only has the COVID-19 pandemic caused a global health crisis, but it has also changed the dynamics of waste generation around the world. This situation demands a productive solution for face mask (FM) waste management to solve several associated environmental issues. In the current study, a novel soil treatment method is proposed for the improvement of mechanical characteristics of fat clay by using FM as fiber reinforcement and silica fume (SF) as the cementitious agent in the form of a composite binary admixture (CBA). The performance of the proposed CBA is compared with SF and FM as the lone stabilizers by conducting extensive geotechnical testing. The SF treatment exponentially improves the strength characteristics of soil but it marginalizes the ductility of soil, inviting sudden failure and instability under dynamic loadings. It is observed that the proposed CBA not only improves the strength characteristics more than SF but also regulates the ductility and deformability of treated soil due to the presence of FM fibers. In addition, the policies and protocols on the logistics of collecting FM waste and making it ready for the proposed geotechnical application are reviewed; associated health risks, socioeconomic conditions and available technologies are the major governing factors to formulate and implement these policies. Moreover, the prolonged storage of COVID-19 FM waste for disinfection is found to be suitable for the proposed soil stabilization method as per the literature. The current study helps in achieving cost-effective filler/foundation material, solving COVID-19 FM waste problems and promoting resource conservation.

INFLUENCE OF SOIL TREATMENT ON THE NUMBER OF EARTHWORMS AND THE SIZE OF MICROBIAL BIOMASS UNDER THE CONDITIONS OF AGRICULTURAL INTENSIFICATION

Objective. To establish the influence of soil treatment methods on the number of earthworms and microbial biomass in dark-chestnut heavy loam soil with observance of the following crop rotation: soybean – winter wheat – corn; verify the hypothesis of the negative influence of traditional soil treatment technologies on the number of earthworms. Methods. Analytical, field, laboratory, system analysis, statistical. Results. During the studies conducted in 2018–2021 at Askanian State Agricultural Experimental Station of the Institute of Irrigated Agriculture of the NAAS, the positive influence of zero soil treatment technologies on the studied parameters versus with traditional technologies was established. A 2.5-fold increase in the number of earthworms and a 1.1-fold increase in microbial biomass was reported with zero soil treatment technologies. The interaction between soil treatment factors and cover crops in the structure of crop rotation was 23.7 %. Soil treatment technologies had a negligible influence on the size of microbial biomass — at the level of 1.4 %. The significance of the action of cover crops in crop rotation was 10.0 %. The experiment also showed a higher number of earthworms in the soil with zero soil treatment technologies with cover crops and traditional technologies for control, due to better live environment and favourable conditions for reproduction and distribution of the population depending on soil treatment technologies. Changes in the density of the soil layer 0–30 cm were within the measurement error (for zero soil treatment technologies the studied parameter was 1.23 g/cm3, for traditional — 1.24 g/cm3). Compaction of 0–20 cm soil layer with zero and traditional soil treatment technologies was reported. The content of soil organic matter by the years of studies under zero soil treatment technologies increased to 3.0 %, which is 1.2 times higher than with traditional technologies. Conclusion. Under the conditions of stationary field experiment the positive influence of zero soil treatment technologies on early changes of biological properties of soil, which were characterized by increase in number of earthworms and size of microbial biomass, has been established. The positive influence of cover crops on soil quality was determined, which was characterized by signs of biota activation in the 0–30 cm layer and improvement of biological and physical properties of the soil.

Агроэкологические условия возделывания озимой пшеницы под защитой лесных полос

Abstract. The purpose of the research is to identify the features of functioning of forest-reclaimed agrobiocenoses and assess their impact in combination with various soil treatments on the formation of winter wheat yield. The object of research was field agrobiocenosis in combination with protective stands. Observations and accounting were carried out according to generally accepted methods. Research result. Research has shown that protective forest belts have an impact on agroecological conditions within the inter-band space and on the yield of winter wheat. It is established that the highest content of productive moisture in the inter-lane space is observed at a distance of 5 to 10 Н from the forest strip. The average content of productive moisture in this zone was 49.4 mm, which is 11.3 mm more than in a field without protective plantings. Differentiated changes in soil moisture in the interband space persist throughout the growing season of winter wheat. Zonal distribution of moisture reserves in the soil affects the formation of the total water consumption of winter wheat, the value of the water consumption coefficient. In a protected field, the total water flow is from 1418.8 to 1758.6 m3/ha, in a field without protective plantings – 1329.7 m3/ha. The yield of winter wheat under the protection of stands is higher than in the field without protective stands. On average, over 5 years of research, depending on the applied technology of soil cultivation, the increase in yield was 0.21–0.29 t/ha. Scientific novelty. In result of the conducted researches the features of moisture and the content of major nutrients in crops in light-chestnut soil in terms of agroecology, the dependence of the activity of soil microbiota from remoteness from planting shelterbelts, assessed the effectiveness of the soil treatment methods and their influence on productivity of winter wheat.

Agrochemical objectivation of corn root residues accumulation using different methods of soil treatment and fertilizer doses

Soil treatment and fertilization influenced the amount of root residues in the soil. The greatest amount of root residues mass was obtained by plowing and ranged from 4.45 t/ha in the control to 5.06 t/ha in the variant with the introduction of mineral fertilizers. For all treatments, the application of organic and mineral fertilizers had a positive effect on root residues accumulation, their maximum accumulation was obtained in the variant N130P130K130 + N100 and amounted to 4.67 - 5.06 t/ha. For all processing methods, the highest load of corn root residues is in the 0-10 cm layer. On average over the years of research maize for silage left in a grain-row crop rotation in a soil layer of 0-30 cm on the control for plowing 22.3 kg/ha of nitrogen, 2.8 kg/ha of phosphorus and 7.0 kg/ha of potassium. The use of mineral fertilizers at the rates (NPK) 70 and (NPK) 140 increased these indicators respectively to 28.0-30.2; 3.8-3.9 and 10.9-11.6 kg/ha. Organic fertilizers in the third year of aftereffect practically did not change the amount of nutrients accumulation in comparison with the unfertilized option. Using organo-mineral fertilization system nitrogen remained in the soil with a root mass of 28.0-28.9 kg/ha, phosphorus 4.1-4.2 and 10.9-11.3 kg/ha of potassium. A similar pattern was observed in the variants with soil cultivation without seam turnover and in the variant with the aftereffect of manure after shallow cultivation significantly less nutrients were accumulated compared to plowing. So, on plowed plots there was more nitrogen by 1.8 kg/ha, by 0.4 kg/ha phosphorus and by 0.7 kg/ha potassium. The methods of basic soil treatment in this crop rotation did not have a significant effect on the nutrients’ accumulation.

Agrophysical properties of typical chernozem depending on its treatment and break crop

The purpose of the work is to study the variability of soil density and structure under the break crop influence and the method of basic soil treatment and to identify the most optimal combination thereof to improve the agrophysical properties of typical chernozem. The study was conducted in 2011–2014 in the south-western part of the Central Chernozem Reserve (CCR), Russia. It was found that the density of the 40 cm soil layer before green manure cropping only depends on the main soil treatment method, and before their embedding – both on the soil treatment and on the type of the break crop. The highest soil density was in the black fallow variant – 1.14 g/cm3. The break crop sequence was established, according to which the soil density decreases: annual melilot – mustard – peas – vetch and oats – buckwheat and phacelia. The correlation coefficient r = 0.52 (mean bond) confirms the dependence of soil density during the cover crop embedding on their root weight. A significant decrease in the structural factor during the transition from ploughing (5.2) to energy-saving treatment was found: surface tillage up to 4.6 and subsoil tillage up to 3.9. The improvement of soil structure takes place in the following sequence: annual melilot, vetch and oats, peas, buckwheat, phacelia, mustard. In the south-western part of the CCR, mustard, vetch and oats, buckwheat and phacelia are recommended as a fallow crop with the preferential use of ploughing as the main soil treatment.

The influence of soil treatment and irrigation methods on tomato yield and quality in the lowlands of Dagestan

A positive effect of irrigation of meadow-chestnut soil on soil fertility was described for the dry-steppe zone of Dagestan. The object of research was tomatoes (Gift variety) planted on irrigated lands of Dagestan. The subject of research is tillage and irrigation methods. The influence of agrotechnical methods on agrophysical soil properties, level and quality of tomatoes was determined. Maintaining the moisture of the active soil layer within 80…100 % NV can optimize agrophysical fertility indicators of the meadow-chestnut soil. In combination with tillage at a depth of 0.23…0.25 m, it ensures the tomato yield of 80…86 t/ha.

Erosion Control Treatment Using Geocell and Wheat Straw for Slope Protection

Slope failure triggered by soil erosion under rainfall remains one of the most difficult problems in geotechnical engineering. Slope protection with planting vegetation can be used to reinforce the soil and stabilize the slope, but the early collapse of the planting soil before the complete growth of plants becomes a major issue for this method. This paper has proposed a composite soil treatment and slope protection method using the geocell structures and the wheat straw reinforcement. The geocell structures improve the stability of the planting soil and provide a stable and fixed environment for the vegetation, while the wheat straw reinforces the soil and also increases the fertility. The authors have performed a total of 9 experiments in this work that are classified into three groups, i.e., the unsupported slopes, the geocell reinforced, and the geocell and wheat straw composite reinforced with a consideration of three different rainfall intensities. The progressive slope failure development during the rainfall was assessed, as well as the soil erosion, the slope displacement, and the water content. The results show that the slope failure increases as the rainfall continues, and the soil degradation increases with the intensity of rainfall. The soil treatment using geocell improves the slope stability, but the geocell and wheat straw composite reinforcement has the best erosion control and slope protection.

Comparative evaluation of wastewater and bioventing system for the treatment of acid mine drainage contaminated soils

The increasing rate of soil pollution poses a prolific threat to the sustenance of the ecosystem. Acid mine drainage (AMD) is an environmental problem that has contributed immensely to soil pedogenesis and contamination associated with mining activities. Physical, chemical, and thermal methods of soil treatment have some rooms for improvement to meet remediation purposes. Contrary to other methods, bioremediation is a cost-effective and a sustainable biological approach that utilizes microorganisms for the remediation of a contaminated environment and does not recontaminate or further degrade the soil after application. This study aims to comparatively evaluate the application of wastewater and bioventing system for the the treatment of AMD contaminated soils. A microcosm containing 1 kg of contaminated soil was amended with wastewaters of varying (biostimulation (BSTa)) while bioventing treatment (BVTa) consists of the injection of atmospheric air through the vadose zone into bioreactors and amended with wastewater effluents. The treatment was conducted at ambient condition for 28 days. The result of the treatment recorded 28–67% and 58–70% metal (Mn, Fe, Al, Cu and Zn) removal efficiencies with 51% and 34% sulfate removal efficiencies for BSTa and BVTa treatments, respectively. However, attempts to improve the sulfate removal efficiencies through the injection of atmospheric air were not effective. This study showed that wastewater and bioventing can be effectively applied as a potential alternative for the treatment of AMD contaminated soils.

Influence of soil treatment methods and standards of mineral fertilizers on growth and development of malt and soil fertility

This article illustrates a number of experiments to conduct research on agronomic techniques of seedling cultivation from the seeds of smooth licorice (Glycyrrhiza Glabra L). The analysis of research results on the effect of irrigation regimes on the growth and development of smooth licorice seedlings, the analysis of experimental work on the effects of smooth licorice irrigation regimens and mineral fertilizer rates on winter wheat yields was carried out. The cost effectiveness of growing seedlings from smooth licorice seeds was also studied by analyzing the results of irrigation procedures, determining the effect of soil processing methods, development and yield of winter wheat sown as a successive crop during cultivation of licorice saplings, and yield of roots in conditions of irrigated typical sierozem soils of the Tashkent province.

Assessment of agricultural practices of winter wheat cultivation in the forest-steppe of the Middle Volga region

The article considers the results of observation of the growth, development and formation of winter wheat grain yield depending on the methods of basic soil treatment, applied fertilizers and biofungicide Phytotrix. It was found out that the options with shallow and surface treatment were not inferior to the control in terms of yield (plowing by 20-22cm). Mineral fertilizers in a dose of N30P30K30 provided an increase in the productivity of winter wheat relative to the non-fertilized background by an average of 0.54 t / ha. Treatment of plants with phytotrix increased grain production on a non-fertilized background by 0.33 t / ha, on the background of N30P30K30 by 0.76 t / ha. The maximum yield of winter wheat-5.03 t / ha was achieved with the use of combing on the background of N30P30K30 + Phytotrix. The greatest responsiveness in collecting grain from fertilizers was observed in the variants of comb-back processing and surface disking, where the increase was 0.68-0.89 t / ha against the background of N30P30K30 application, and 1.05 t/ha against the background of N30P30K30 + Phytotrix relative to the natural background of the corresponding treatments.Apply mineral fertilizers in a dose of N30P30K30, with the application of biofungicide treatment on the vegetation of the crop, which will increase the yield by 0.76 t / ha, compared to the non-fertilized background.

Influence of basic soil treatment methods on productivity of various links of grain crop rotation

Crop rotation in agriculture plays an important role. It provides a certain opportunity to assess the state of agricultural production, to analyze the elements of agricultural technologies used in specific natural and climatic conditions, to identify drawbacks, if any, and reasonably direct them towards optimization. The article discusses topical issues of increasing the productivity of field crops in the links of crop rotation against the background of their placement in various ways of the main processing of merged leached chernozems. During 2016–2019 agricultural years studies were carried out to establish the optimal method of soil cultivation and determine the proportion of the influence of predecessors on the productivity of the main crop of the foothill zone of Adygea – winter wheat, in various links of the crop rotation. According to the results of the research, different efficiency of the considered links of graintilled crop rotation was established. So, higher indicators of crop rotation yield and the total yield of fodder units would be achieved against the background of plowing to a depth of 22–24 cm. If we judge the productivity of a particular link in the crop rotation by the yield of winter wheat, it should be noted that in the link «soya-winter wheat», it was maximum and amounted to 4,90–5,86 t/ha, and the average productivity of the unit was 4,80 t/ha of feed units.

Heavy Metal Immobilization Studies and Enhancement in Geotechnical Properties of Cohesive Soils by EICP Technique

Soil treatment methods to cope with ever-growing demands of construction industry and environmental aspects are always explored for their suitability in different in-situ conditions. Of late, enzyme induced calcite precipitation (EICP) is gaining importance as a reliable technique to improve soil properties and for contaminant remediation scenarios. In the present work, swelling and permeability characteristics of two native Indian cohesive soils (Black and Red) are explored. Experiments on the sorption and desorption of multiple heavy metals (Cd, Ni and Pb) onto these soils were conducted to understand the sorptive response of the heavy metals. To improve the heavy metal retention capacity and enhance swelling and permeability characteristics, the selected soils were treated with different enzyme solutions. The results revealed that EICP technique could immobilize the heavy metals in selected soils to a significant level and reduce the swelling and permeability. This technique is contaminant selective and performance varies with the nature and type of heavy metal used. Citric acid (C6H8O7) and ethylene diamine tetra-acetic acid (EDTA) were used as extractants in the present study to study the desorption response of heavy metals for different EICP conditions. The results indicate that calcium carbonate (CaCO3) precipitate deposited in the voids of soil has the innate potential in reducing the permeability of soil up to 47-fold and swelling pressure by 4-fold at the end of 21 days of curing period. Reduction in permeability and swell, following EICP treatment can be maintained with one time rinsing of the treated soil in water to avoid dissolution of precipitated CaCO3. Outcomes of this study have revealed that EICP technique can be adopted on selected native soils to reduce swelling and permeability characteristics followed by enhanced contaminant remediation enabling their potential as excellent landfill liner materials.

Исследования почвенного плодородия для разработки технологий возделывания сельскохозяйственных культур

На основе использования аналитических исследований разработана технологическая модель плодородия различных типов почвы, что является агрономической основой получения урожая зерновых культур на уровне 5 – 6 т зерна с 1 га и выше. Важным условием технологической разработки является дифференцированный подход к использованию технологий воспроизводства плодородия почв (системы удобрений, способы обработки почв, мелиорации и др.). В системе обработки почвы наилучшие результаты показывает сочетание в севообороте глубокой вспашки с поверхностной обработкой или рыхлением. В начале ротации севооборота проводят глубокую вспашку с заделкой органических удобрений прослойкой на дно борозды. Для мобилизации влаги из подпахотных горизонтов в органику добавляют 3 – 4 т/га извести, цеолитов и других мелиорантов. Совместное использование органических удобрений и цеолитов формирует благоприятный пищевой режим в нижней части пахотного горизонта. Это позволяет попеременно стимулировать анаэробную и аэробную микробиологическую активность и в итоге управлять процессами трансформации органического вещества.

Influence of main processing methods on the water-physical properties of the soil and soybean yield in Western Siberia

The results of research on the influence of basic tillage methods on agrophysical indicators in soybean cultivation are presented. Over the years of research (2017-2019), the soil density (0-30 cm) during soybean cultivation according to the studied methods of basic tillage was optimal for plant growth and development and was within the range of 1.00-1.27 g/cm3 before sowing; 1.05-1.19 g/cm3 during the branching phase; 1.10-1.36 g/cm3 before harvesting. The reserves of available moisture before sowing in the twenty-centimeter layer of soil were characterized by satisfactory and good security (30.4-43.0 mm), the meter layer-good and very good security (150.8-172.3 mm) on variants with soil treatment and satisfactory at zero treatment-125.1 mm. In the phase of soybean branching, the available moisture reserves at a depth of 0-20 cm were characterized by satisfactory water availability (31.0-35.6 mm) and good (159.6-160.6 mm) in the meter layer of soil. Before cleaning, the available moisture reserves were characterized by satisfactory security. The highest yield was obtained by a differentiated method of tillage (20-22 cm) with an excess of control (dump method, 20-22 cm) by 0.06 t/ha. A decrease in the depth of processing (12-14cm) led to a decrease in the yield of soybean grain by 0.07-0.11 t/ha for the studied methods of basic soil treatment.

Combined stabilization/solidification and electroosmosis treatments for dredged marine silt

Stabilization/solidification (S/S) has been examined as an effective way to strengthen soft soils. However, the presence of organic matter (OM) in dredged marine silt can substantially weaken the reinforcement effect of S/S. To treat organic silt that is difficult to strengthen by S/S, a new combined application of S/S and electroosmosis (EO) treatments was adopted in this paper to increase the strength of soft soil. To enrich the current knowledge about combined soft soil treatment methods, as well as to study the mechanism of increasing the strength under combined S/S-EO treatments, silts with different OM and cement contents were stabilized, and then EO was carried out after certain precuring times. Different test methods, including bearing capacity tests, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP), etc., were conducted. The experimental results showed that both OM and cement can reduce the EO resistivity of samples, and the combined application of S/S-EO treatments can significantly improve the bearing capacity of organic silt, with a maximum increase of 80.5%. Additionally, the combined application solves the problem of soil cracking and detachment between electrode and soil. Finally, the micromechanism of S/S-EO is discussed considering the number of cement hydration products and pore diameter.

Influence of tillage methods on crop productivity in the second rotation of crop rotations

The article presents the results of studying the minimum methods of soil cultivation in a stationary experiment on the gray forest heavy loam soil of the southern part of the Volga-Vyatka region of Russia. Based on the conducted research, it was found that on gray forest soils in adaptive landscape agriculture of the Chuvash Republic, it is advisable to replace the traditional method of soil cultivation (based on dump plowing) with resource-saving methods. This is primarily the use of minimum-1 and 2 methods of soil treatment, where combined tillage units KOS-3 and BDM-4-3.2 are used.

Peculiarities of forming the weed component of agrophytocenosis of corn hybrids depending on the methods of basic soil treatment in the temperate moisture area

The article presents data on the formation of the species composition of the weed component of the agrophytocenosis of corn hybrids and the effect on it of the methods of the main soil ttrreatment-plowing, which was carried out by the Lemken EuroDiamant aggregate on 25 … 27 cm and DHM disking 5 × 4 on 10 … 12 cm. It was revealed that in crops of corn hybrids, weeds from the biological group of late spring prevailed, since they are similar in biology to the biology of the development of culture, perennial weeds, which are the most harmful, occupied 34.45%, which determined the system control measures including the use of herbicides and the inter-row cultivation, contributing to the destruction of weeds to phytocenotic damage threshold and identification of their significant decrease during the plowing basic treatment. The role of the hybrid in reducing weediness has not been identified, which is reliably proved by mathematical processing. However, taking into account the yield potential, it was determined that the cultivation of foreign selection hybrids contributes to a significantly high yield - AS- 201 (7.5 t / ha) and Monsanto DKS 3939 (6.96 t / ha) compared with the hybrid Mashuk 171 (4.9 t / ha) when using plowing as the main method of treatment.