The Efficiency of Cultivating Crown Flax, Winter Wheat, Foxtail Milletin Stubble Field, and Field Pea Under Adaptive System of Basic Tillage of Ordinary Chernozem

Abstract

The development of resource-saving tillage and direct seeding technologies (no-till) of field crops end up making a profit when it is based on the results of research and practice but this is not the case in all regions. Taking this into account, in the central zone of the Krasnodar Region in the permanent crop rotation from 2013 through 2018, we studied the integrated effect of plowing (22-24 cm -the control), surface tillage (6-8 cm) and zero tillage (herbicide treatment) and the crop in the rotation on the economic efficiency of production and elements of soil fertility. The average annual air temperature in the area is +12.1°C; the precipitation amount is 614 mm. The soil is represented by ordinary chernozem; humus amount in the arable layer makes 3.8%; P2O5-22-28 mg kg of soil; K2O -350-380 mg kg of soil (according to B.P. Machigin). The accounting area of the plots amounted to 5000 m2; fourfold plot replica-tion; threefold temporal replication. The crops were sown with the Rapid600 seeder with fertilizer application. Pesti-cides and growth promoters were used. The crops were harvested with a Claas Tucano combine harvester. It was found that the tillage variants affected the yields of crown flax, winter wheat,foxtail millet in stubble field, and field pea; and also changed the production costs and the condi-tional net income for crops and the course of the crop rota-tion. Under direct seeding technology, the conditional net income for the course of the crop rotation made 58.6 thou-sand rubles per ha; fuel consumption -127 kg ha and labor costs -16.98 man-hours per ha which was by 5%, 43% and 11%, respectively, less than those in the control. Sur-face tillage also had an advantage in terms of these indica-tors. Moldboard plowing reduced the intensity of organic matter accumulation 1.5-1.2 times as compared to direct seeding (no-till) and surface tillage. The cultivation of 4 crops in a course of the crop rotation for 3 agricultural years stabilizes economic indicators and soil fertility. The developed technologies for crop optimization in a rotation (the crops in constant demand by the market); adaptive methods of basic tillage; preservation of soil fertility may be used by land users with similar soil and climatic conditions.