DEPENDENCE OF THE YIELD OF WINTER WHEAT (TRITICUM AESTIVUM L.) ON SOIL AND CLIMATIC CONDITIONS AND VARIOUS TILLAGES IN THE ZONE OF LIGHT CHESTNUT SOILS OF THE VOLGA-DON INTERFLUVE AREA OF THE SOUTHERN FEDERAL DISTRICT OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
Authors: Guzenko Alexey Yu. , Solonkin Andrey V. , Belyaev Alexandr I. , Seminchenko Elena V. 
Published: August 2023

Background. The conditions of the Volgograd region of the Russian Federation are a zone of risky agriculture with an arid climate. This factor cannot be controlled by agro technological techniques on a full scale, even if all technological processes of field work are followed. Based on this, the development of new adaptive technologies, in relation to certain soil and climatic territories, can be attributed to one of the tasks of modern agricultural science.

Tillage is the most important production operation in agriculture, both in terms of energy intensity and the impact on the yield of all cultivated crops. It plays a role in improving soil fertility and its safety from water and wind erosion.

The results of the experiment with scientific justification and experimental confirmation on the use of various tillage options (dump, dump less, shallow) for growing field crops depending on the influence of prevailing climatic conditions in 2018-2020 on the experimental field of the Federal Research Center of Agroecology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in the dry-steppe zone of chestnut soils are presented.

Purpose – is to identify the influence of tillage and emerging climatic conditions on the weeding and yield of winter wheat, to carry out mathematical processing by the STATISTICA Application 10.0.0.0 and Excel statistical processing program for the possibility of subsequent theoretical determination of the dependence of the yield and weeding of winter wheat crops on various tillage options in the emerging climatic conditions.

The novelty of the work lies in the fact that for the first time studies have been carried out and data have been obtained on the dependence of the yield and infestation of winter wheat crops on various tillage options in the prevailing climatic conditions in the dry steppe zone of chestnut soils. Subsequently, it is possible to theoretically substantiate the use of one or another tillage under certain climatic conditions to reduce the infestation of winter wheat crops and increase its yield.

Materials and methods. Since winter wheat is grown in extreme temperature conditions, tillage plays an important role in ensuring the best water regime for the plant life cycle.

The soil of the experimental site is light chestnut, heavy loamy, with a humus content of 1.74% in the arable layer. The average annual precipitation was 339.7 mm. The technology of cultivation of these crops was generally accepted for the research area. A zoned variety of winter soft wheat Kamyshanka 4 was sown with a seeding rate of 4.5 million pcs/ha with a seeder SKP-2.1 (Omichka) with anchor coulters. When examining weeds, frames measuring 50×50 cm were used. The species composition of weeds was distributed by type (monocotyledonous or dicotyledonous) and life cycle (annual or perennial). Grain yield was determined, as well as the components of winter wheat yield: plant height (cm), number of grains per ear (pcs), grain weight per ear (gr), weight of 1000 grains (gr). The results of the study were analyzed in the program STATISTICA Application 10.0.0.0. Based on the results of statistical studies, empirical models of soil density were built for the most significant factors. The analysis showed that the density of the soil under various treatments was influenced by air temperature and precipitation during the most critical periods of development.

Results. It was found that the highest contamination of winter wheat crops is provided by fine processing of BDT-3 to a depth of 0.10-0.12 m 22.9 pcs/m2. Perennial weeds dominated over annual ones in all treatments. This is primarily due to fluctuations in soil temperature in spring, which leads to a delay in seed germination. The remains of the cover crop make a barrier to the germination of annual weeds and can contribute to larger seeds of perennials. A high content of dry biomass was observed during shallow processing, this is due to a higher moisture content in the soil, since the soil layer is less disturbed during shallow processing. Perennial weeds can be resistant to drought due to different root systems. The annual weeds have a shallow and spongy root system, they cannot get moisture from deep layers of soil. In terms of yield and yield components of winter wheat, the highest indicators were observed for chisel processing by working bodies of the “Ranch” with loosening up to 0.35 m and a layer turnover of 0.12-0.15 m: plant height – 105 cm; the largest number of productive stems – 304 pcs./m2; productive bushiness – 304 pcs./m2; weight of 1000 grains – 40.9 g.; the number of grains per ear – 32.3 pcs./ m2; the weight of grain per ear is 1.32 gr. and the yield is 3.7 t/ha. The field of application of this study is the dry steppe zone of the Lower Volga region.

Conclusion. As a result of studying the productivity of winter wheat in rain-fed conditions on light chestnut soils of the Lower Volga region, it was found that, on average, over three years of research from 2018 to 2020. Also, conclusions are made about the good relationship between the use of a certain tool of tillage from the prevailing certain climatic conditions. In the wet years of 2018-2019, the “CHO” Ranch showed itself perfectly to a depth of 12-15 cm, and in the dry year “OO” PN-4-35 to a depth of 0.20 – 0.22 cm due to the creation of a certain water regime and soil density showed the best result. The data processed in STATISTICA Application 10.0.0.0 and in Excel provide a theoretical justification for the direct dependence of yield factors on treatments for all factors of soil structure and contamination, as well as on the yield structure for the period 2018-2020 years.