INFLUENCE OF SOWING TIME ON THE PRODUCTIVITY OF SUNFLOWER WITHOUT SOIL TILLAGE

Abstract

Nowadays, resource-saving technologies are widely used in crop farming. One of
them is the cultivation technology of agricultural crops without tillage (No-till farming). So
far, this technology has not been used to study the impact of agrotechnical methods on weed
infestation of crops, growth, development of cultivated plants and their yield. Therefore, the
aim of our research is to evaluate the impact of sowing time on the presence of weeds,
biometric indicators and yield of sunflower which was cultivated without tillage. The research
was conducted in 2018 and 2019 in the experimental field of Federal State Budgetary
Scientific Institution "North-Caucasus Federal Agricultural Research Center", located in the
unstable moisture zone of the Stavropol Territory. The article presents the study results of
sunflower sowing during three periods: 5th – 10th April, 25th – 30th April and 15th – 20th May
after the application of soil herbicide. After two years of research it was found that sunflower
crops which were sown in the second ten-day period of May had significantly less number
and weight of weeds. Less weed infestation of crops at this sowing time in addition to more
favorable weather conditions during the growing season contributed to a significant increase
in the vegetative mass of sunflower and elements of the yield formula and crop yield
2
compared to earlier periods, respectively. Sunflower sowing in the second ten-day period of
May provided 2.45 t / ha of achenes, which is significantly more than after sowing in the first
and third ten-day period of April by 1.01 and 1.17 t/ha.