INFLUENCE OF NO-TILL TECHNOLOGY ON WATER-PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF SOIL AND YIELD OF CULTIVATED CROPS

Abstract

The research studies were aimed at examining the influence of No-till technology on the
properties of the ordinary black soil in the Stavropol Krai and yield of cultivated crops. The
studies were carried out for soybean-winter wheat-sunflower-corn crop rotation. The
technology recommended by the scientific institutions implied that the primary soil tillage for
soybean, sunflower, and corn involves primary tillage in two traces, and fall tillage; double
tillage with disk harrow and pre-sowing cultivation were performed for winter wheat. When
No-till technology had been used, 5.78t of plant residue were on the soil surface, which
provided two times greater accumulation of snow in winter and 25% more preservation of
moisture in soil than according to the recommended technology. For both technologies soil
density ranged within optimal values for the growth of plants. Fertilization in No-till
technology led to a reliable increase in the content of the available phosphorus in the upper
soil layer with respect to the 10-20cm layer, while in the recommended technology the
content of this element in both layers was identical. However, it caused no decrease in the
yield of cultivated crops.