HYDROPHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF THE SOUTHERN CHERNOZEM OF THE VOLGOGRAD REGION DURING LONG-TERM CULTIVATION OF FIELD CROPS USING NO-TILL TECHNOLOGY

Abstract

The research was carried out in Gelio-Pax-Agro-3 LLC of the Novoanninsky District of the Volgograd Region on the field No. 22 with an area of 58 hectares, where for 11 years (2012 – 2022) field crops were cultivated in crop rotation: chickpea – winter wheat – sunflower – corn – winter wheat. In the western half of the field, they were grown using traditional technologies with tillage, in the eastern half – using no-till technology. The soil of the experimental field was southern weakly carbonated moderately deep low-humic semi-loam on loess-like carbonate loams chernozem. The purpose of the research was to establish the influence of crop cultivation in the no-till technology and using traditional technologies on the agrophysical properties of the southern chernozem of the Volgograd Region. It was found that in the no-till technology there was an increase in the proportion of larger water stable fractions of soil particles while reducing the dusty fractions, which indicated the restoration of the water stability of soil aggregates in this technology. The soil density in the no-till technology was much higher, especially in spring, when it increased to critical for plant growth from 1,33 g/cm³ in a layer of 10 – 20 cm to 1,37 g/cm³ in a layer of 40 – 50 cm. Therefore, the water permeability of southern chernozem in no-till technology was significantly worse and was characterized as unsatisfactory. The content of productive moisture in a one and a half meter soil layer in autumn was very low according to both technologies. In spring, its content increased to 140 mm in traditional technology and 162 mm in no-till technology. Its increase in no-till technology was more due to less evaporation from the soil covered with plant residues than from its accumulation during snowmelt. A further increase in soil density in the no-till system may worsen the conditions for plant growth and lead to a decrease in their yield. Therefore, it is necessary to apply effective measures to prevent soil compaction in this technology.