EFFICIENCY OF DIRECT SEEDING TECHNOLOGY IN THE FIGHT AGAINST WIND AND WATER EROSION

Abstract

The purpose of the research is to analyze the effectiveness of direct seeding technology
in the struggle with soil deflation and the development of linear water erosion processes on a
large area of arable lands. The objects of research were nearby commercial farm units of
Budennovsky District in Stavropol Territory – APC (agricultural production cooperatives)
«Arkhangelsky» with an area of arable land of 15675 ha and LLC «Dobrovolnoye» (7243 ha).
Both farms are located in a dry zone with an average annual precipitation of 402 mm. In 2014
APC «Arkhangelsky» began to implement the system of zero tillage (No-till technology) and
in 2017 mastered it on the entire area of the farm, while LLC «Dobrovolnoye» had been
working with recommended by scientific institutions agricultural system of dump tillage all
those years.
Annually after harvesting, the APC «Arkhangelsky» received on average more than 4
tons of crop residues per 1 ha, which remained on the soil surface. This amount, combined with
the harvesting of spiked cereals and seed flax by the method of removing plant waste and the
rejection of fallow land, provides credible protection of the farm's soils from wind and water
erosion. One could evidence it by the reduction in the length of linear water erosion processes
from 23 km in 2013 to 13 km in 2019, and the cessation of erosion processes on the agricultural
fields and erosion-hazardous areas of topographic low, which is clearly visible on space
multispectral images.
In LLC «Dobrovolnoye» plant residues are embedded into the soil during plowing. In
combination with 3780 ha of fallow land, it leads to an increase in the intensity of water erosion,
the formation of channel erosion, the formation of erosion scars and an increase in the length
of linear water erosion processes over the same years from 9.0 km to 10.5 km.