The importance of crop rotation in increasing soil fertility. Crop rotation - how to increase soil fertility

Modern agricultural technologies as a system of measures to optimize the living conditions of agricultural plants are distinguished by deep scientific study and special requirements for the timely and accurate execution of all technological methods.

But how component adaptive landscape farming systems, agricultural technologies of the 21st century are closely related to the structure of sown areas and the system of crop rotations - the fundamental links of any farming system of the past and present.

For all farming systems, from primitive to modern, the most important are two inextricably linked distinctive features - the method of using the land and the method of reproducing soil fertility. And both of these characteristics are manifested and implemented through the central link of the farming system - crop rotation or a crop rotation system.

A clear confirmation of the leading role of crop rotation in farming systems is the replacement of the fallow farming system with a crop rotation system, which occurred in the 18th-19th centuries. V. in the countries of Western Europe and had a great influence on the development of the theory and practice of agriculture in Russia.

This is how the outstanding scientific agronomist and reformer of Russian agriculture A.S. Ermolov assessed the process of transition from a three-field system to a fruit-bearing system of agriculture: “If, for example, the owner, instead of the usual three-field system, starts four fields and after, for example, winter, introduces two successive spring crops (after rye Let’s say he sows buckwheat, the next year after buckwheat he sows oats, and after the oats in the fourth year he lets the land fallow), then only the crop rotation will change, which will turn from a three-field with fallow to a four-field one. Neither the basic economic system nor the relative importance of its individual branches will undergo any changes. Just as the economy was extensive, it is still extensive; As the economy was grain, it remains grain, but both the crop rotation and the farming system undergo a more significant change if instead of buckwheat, root crops, for example, potatoes, fodder beets, are sown in the newly created intermediate field. Fruit change appears, the supply of feed supplies increases, it becomes possible to increase fertilizer and thereby increase the yield. Along with the introduction of root crops, grass sowing is introduced, first in the form of sowing vetch or steamed annual grasses, then in the form of sowing perennial grasses, with a corresponding lengthening of the crop rotation and turning it into a perennial crop rotation; the stock of feed increases, the center of gravity of agricultural production gradually moves towards cattle breeding or agricultural production is started technical production, which processes raw agricultural products, transforming them into more valuable products and returning to the farm all its waste, which serves as fertilizer and replaces the soil with all or most of what was taken from it. Here the entire system and the entire economic system are changing. One step further - pure fallow is destroyed in crop rotation, imported artificial fertilizers are introduced to supplement their own - farming turns into intensive” (Ermolov A.S. Selected works. M.: Kolos, 1995. p. 135).

If in Germany A. Thayer improved crop rotation and strengthened its influence on soil fertility by introducing another field of legumes (see his six-field area above), then in Russia, since the time of A. T. Bolotov, such an increase in the influence of crop rotation on soil fertility was proposed to be carried out first by lengthening the three-year pasture period in a seven-field grain-fallow rotation, and then by improving this rotation through the introduction of an additional one or two fields of clover.

For example, in the Yaroslavl province I. I. Samarin proposed alternation: 1) fallow, 2) winter crops with clover undersowing, 3) clover, 4) spring crops. Subsequently, this alternation was improved by lengthening the period of use of clover and increasing the duration of crop rotation to 6-8 years - 1) fallow, 2) winter crops with clover reseeding, 3-4) clover, 5) winter crops, 6) spring grains.

However, on the soils of the Non-Black Earth Region, clover was not always preserved in the second year of its use, and it was proposed to use a mixture of clover with timothy grass. And in the recommendations of Russian scientific agronomists, the so-called Volokolamsk eight-field region appeared with a two-year use of a mixture of clover with timothy and two fields of pure fallow: 1) fallow, 2) winter crops with undersowing of clover with timothy, 3-4) clover with timothy, 5) spring grains, 6) fallow, 7) winter, 8) spring grain. In this alternation, soil fertility was still maintained by fallow fields, and was enhanced by the presence in the clover fields of perennial cereal grass - timothy grass, which leaves in the soil, in addition to clover nitrogen, a large mass of organic matter in the form of root residues.

However, these improved crop rotations did not become fruit-bearing, since they lacked one of the most important elements of crop rotation - row crops, and the coefficient of arable land utilization was still significantly below one due to the presence of fallow fields. The above crop rotations became the basis of the so-called improved grain farming system, adapted to the socio-economic conditions in most of Russia in the 19th century. And crop rotations and the farming system of the same name became widespread at that time only in areas of relatively developed agriculture. These were the regions of the Black Earth center of Russia, where in the second half of the 19th century the cultivation of row crops - sugar beets - quickly spread, and the sugar industry developed on the basis of beet sowing.

Sugar beets became the basis economic development these areas, where a network of sugar factories and other beet processing enterprises arose. And for beet-growing areas, typical crop rotations were recommended and used: 1) clover, 2) winter wheat, 3) sugar beets, 4) peas, 5) oats with clover reseeding; 1) fallow (vetch-oats for feed), 2) winter wheat, 3) sugar beets, 4) peas, 5) sugar beets; 1) clover, 2) winter wheat, 3) sugar beets, 4) peas, 5) sugar beets, 6) oats with clover undersowing; 1) clover, 2) winter wheat, 3) sugar beets, 4) oats, 5) peas, 6) sugar beets, 7) oats with clover undersowing.

Such crop rotations have become the basis for maintaining soil fertility in an intensive rotational farming system. Subsequently, when crop rotations were saturated with sugar beets, corn, hemp and other row crops in a number of places, these crop rotations became row crops and the crop rotation system turned into the most intensive - row crop or industrial-factory farming system, which is characterized by the intensive use of arable land with a predominance of in the structure of sown areas of row crops, with the reproduction of soil fertility based on the widespread use of organic and mineral fertilizers, intensive tillage and other factors of intensification of agriculture. At the same time, in a number of beet-growing areas, the use of clover was extended to two years, but for the most part it was replaced by a perennial leguminous grass, alfalfa, which was more resistant to the conditions of the forest-steppe zone. Pure crops of this crop maintained high productivity for three or more years, which was the reason for the three-year use of alfalfa in field 10-11-12 field crop rotations with winter and spring grain crops, with sugar beets, corn, sunflowers and other row crops.

With the creation of collective farms, state farms and other large-scale farms in the Soviet Union, the introduction of a grass-based farming system began as a directive.

The basis of the grass-field farming system was a system of agrotechnical measures to restore soil fertility within the framework of grass-field crop rotations, in which there were several fields with crops of cereal-legume mixtures of perennial grasses. All land use in this farming system was based on multi-field field crop rotations with 2-3 fields of grass-legume mixtures of perennial grasses, which were located on upland areas, and on forage meadow-pasture grassland crop rotations with a predominance of perennial and annual grass crops, which were located on low areas of the relief, in floodplains rivers, etc. In addition, near-farm crop rotations were used, which were located around farms and economic centers. In the near-farm crop rotations, in addition to perennial and annual grasses, forage row crops were cultivated - root crops, silage and others.

The author of this farming system, Academician V.R. Williams, exaggerating the importance of perennial grasses in increasing soil fertility, insisted on the widespread introduction into production of a system of grass field and forage crop rotations as the basis for the further development of agricultural production in the Soviet Union.

However, agricultural practice, research of numerous scientific institutions The USSR soon showed the inconsistency of such globalization of agriculture on the scale of a large country with a huge variety of soil-climatic, economic and other conditions.

In conditions of insufficient moisture, characteristic of 70% of the country's arable land area, moisture-loving perennial herbs(the transpiration coefficient of alfalfa is 800-900 versus 400-600 for most field crops) not only did not show their positive effect on soil fertility, but also negatively affected the reserves of productive moisture in the soil - the main factor in the sustainability of agriculture in these areas.

At the same time, in conditions of sufficient moisture, on irrigated lands, the basic principles of the theory and practice of crop rotation, associated with the principles of fruit replacement and field grass sowing, found their further development in the works of S. A. Vorobyov, V. P. Mosolov, V. P. Nartsisov, P £. Prokopova, V.N. Prokosheva, E.L. Ubenisa, M.I. Sidorova, A.B. Sokolova, M. F. Stikhina, IA. Tsivenko and other Soviet agricultural scientists. Their research showed that under conditions of sufficient moisture, field grass sowing in combination with row crops is the basis for constructing many field, forage and special crop rotations.

A vivid embodiment of the principles of fruit rotation are scientifically based alternations in field grain-grass-row crop rotations: 1-2) perennial grasses (a mixture of clover with timothy), 3) winter wheat, 4) potatoes, 5) barley, 6) winter rye, 7) corn for silage, 8) oats with undersowing many. herbs; 1-2) perennial grasses, 3) winter wheat, 4) potatoes, 5) barley, 6) peas, 7) winter rye, 8) oats with additional sowing. herbs; 1-2) perennial grasses (a mixture of clover and timothy), 3) winter wheat, 4) potatoes, 5) fiber flax, 6. oats with undersowing many. grasses and other crop rotations with a similar structure of sown areas.

In these rotations, as in the classic four-field crop rotation, approximately the same ratio of the crop area of ​​the main groups of crops can be traced - 50% of the crop rotation area is occupied by grain crops (“soil degraders”), the rest is approximately equally distributed between legumes and row crops (“soil improvers”). . Of course, such a division is conditional, however, against the background of such a structure of sown areas, the prerequisites are created for the basic principle of fruit rotation - a constant change in the fields of crops that differ significantly in biology (cereals, legumes, winter, spring, perennial, annual, deep and shallow root system, with large and relatively small removal of nutrients, consuming and accumulating nitrogen in the soil, etc.) according to cultivation technology (continuous and row crops, well fertilized, with manure, and not very fertilized, without manure).

In the forest-steppe zone and in irrigated areas of the southern regions of the country in fruit and similar crop rotations, a great agro-ecological effect of alternation is achieved by three to four years of using alfalfa, which in these conditions is the best predecessor of winter wheat, rice, tobacco, vegetables and other special crops. In the field crop rotations of the Central Black Sea region, the principles of crop rotation are the basis of such alternations: 1-3) alfalfa, 4) winter wheat, 5) sugar beets, 6) barley 7) peas, 8) winter wheat, 9) corn for grain, 10) barley or 1 ) pea-barley mixture for feed, 2) winter wheat, 3) sugar beets, 4) peas, 5) winter wheat, 6) corn for grain, 7) barley, 8) sunflower, 9) corn for silage, 10) winter wheat.

These and many other alternations show the high efficiency of the principles of fruit rotation, which, under the conditions of intensification and specialization of agriculture, received their further development.

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The importance of crop rotations in increasing soil fertility and crop yields has been proven by long-term domestic and foreign field experiments. It was found that in crop rotation (compared to continuous cultivation), grain crops increase yield by 1.5–2 times, sugar beets by 1.5–2 times, potatoes by 20–50%; corn gives a smaller increase in yield; flax and sunflower, when re-sown, sharply reduce the yield. This pattern also appears when applying fertilizers.

A decrease in yield during continuous cultivation of agricultural crops is caused by many reasons. Some of them are related to plant nutrition, others are related to the impact of agricultural crops on physical properties soil, and still others of biological order.

Nutritional Features different types plants are expressed in their unequal need for food elements, in the different ability of their root system to extract nutrients from the deep layers of the soil, as well as from hard-to-reach compounds, in the ability of leguminous plants to fix atmospheric nitrogen and enrich the soil with it. The main reason for the decrease in yield during continuous sowing without the application of fertilizers is one-sided depletion of the soil (like any depletion in general), but even in this case, crop rotation has a large impact positive influence on plant nutrition conditions. Fertilizing grains, potatoes, sugar beets and other crops is more effective in crop rotation than in continuous cultivation. The best use of soil nutrients and fertilizers in crop rotation is explained by alternating plants with different root systems. Root systems various types Plants have varying abilities to absorb nutrients from hard-to-reach compounds. Thus, lupine, buckwheat, oats and some other crops, with the help of root secretions, can convert inaccessible phosphorus compounds into an assimilable state. The introduction of legumes into crop rotation enriches the soil with nitrogen, therefore reducing the consumption of mineral fertilizers.

The different effects of agricultural crops on the physical properties of the soil and on its resistance to water and wind erosion is expressed in the fact that after harvesting different types of crops, different amounts of plant residues and organic fertilizers remain in the soil. Regulating the balance of organic matter in the soil is the most important task of agriculture. The physical properties of the soil depend on the correct solution of this problem, in particular its structure, which serves as a regulator of the water-air regime and reliable protection from erosion. By correct selection and rotation of crops in combination with the application of organic and mineral fertilizers, it is possible to regulate the processes of creation and decomposition of organic matter in the soil, achieve its deficit-free balance and thereby improve the physical properties of the soil. The plants themselves and their cultivation methods have different effects on the soil's resistance to erosion. Row crops and systematic tillage associated with their cultivation reduce the soil's resistance to erosion, while perennial grasses, on the contrary, increase it; grain crops, subject to the use of soil conservation treatment, also protect the soil from wind erosion. In areas of sufficient moisture and with irrigation, intercrops, especially winter crops, are an important means of improving the balance of organic matter in the soil and protecting it from erosion. All these activities are carried out through the correct placement of agricultural crops on the territory and their alternation over time, that is, as a result of the use of a crop rotation system.

Pests and pathogens are no less dangerous for the yield of many agricultural crops. Thus, during continuous cropping, winter wheat is severely affected by root gills, flax and hemp by fusarium, potatoes by late blight, rhizoctonia and scab, sunflower by downy mildew, cotton by wilt, cabbage by clubroot, etc. In the absence of proper crop rotations, the bug, the cutworm, the ground beetle and other pests multiply strongly in grain-growing areas. When cultivating sugar beets on permanent plantations, nematodes multiply, reducing the yield of the roots and their sugar content.

During their life processes, plants release various substances: some of them have a negative effect on subsequent crops, others suppress the development of beneficial microorganisms. Similar substances are secreted by microorganisms developing in the rhizosphere of cultivated plants. Research by scientists has established that the soil on which clover has been cultivated for a long time acquires toxic properties in relation to nodule bacteria, which individual species Rhizosphere bacteria inhibit plants during repeated sowings, but stimulate the development of plants of other species. In agriculture, biological factors are the main reasons that should be taken into account when conducting crop rotation. Many diseases and pests can be eliminated by means of control only with proper crop rotation. The same reasons explain the so-called soil fatigue, from which plants that are severely affected by fungal and bacterial diseases (flax, clover, peas, etc.) suffer more. The species composition of fungi and rhizosphere microorganisms in the soil changes due to a change in cultivated plants or as a result of changes in agricultural technology.

Depending on the soil-climatic zone, there are various reasons for the decrease in crop yields under monoculture. The general pattern is that the more significant the positive role of alternation is, the more dissimilar the alternating crops are in biology and cultivation technology. With an increase in the general level of agricultural technology, the possibility of re-seeding those crops that are less affected by specific diseases and pests and the cultivation of which does not produce substances that inhibit their vital activity is expanded.

When soil is used for agriculture without fertilizer, it is gradually depleted and yields fall. This was noted in ancient times. Thus, Tacitus (1st century AD) wrote that the Germans change fields every year to sow plants.

In the south of Russia, in the steppe zone, a “fallow” system arose, in which more or less carefully cultivated virgin soil was sown with wheat, rye or oats for several years in a row, and after depletion, it was turned into fallow land (fallow land).

In Russia there was also a “fire” or “slash” farming system, which was used in the more northern zone. Trees and shrubs felled in the summer were “pulled” in the fall. Useful wood was taken out and the remaining wood was burned in the field. After use, the soil was left to “rest” for a number of years to restore fertility.

With the increase in population, the need for land area increased, and a system of “accelerated” soil rest arose in the form of the so-called three-shelf system, in which fallow (fallow), winter and spring crops alternated. This system was widely used until the beginning of the 20th century, when more complex crop rotations that preserved soil fertility gradually began to be introduced.

After the Great October Socialist Revolution, the three-field system was replaced by grass-field and fruit replacement systems, which included sowing grass mixtures. During grass fields, grasses occupy up to 30-40% of the soil, and during fruiting - 20-25%. Each soil-climatic zone requires its own crop rotation.

The feasibility and even the necessity of introducing crop rotation arose when the adverse effects on soil fertility of long-term cultivation of the same crop in a field were established. A clear confirmation of this is the experience laid down by D.N. Pryanishnikov at TSCA on soddy-podzolic soils. The average crop yields obtained 50 years after the start of the experiment are shown in Table 17.

It is quite obvious that in crop rotation with clover the yields were significantly better than with permanent crops.

Similar data were obtained in a long-term experiment conducted on the black soil of the Mironovsky Institute of Wheat Breeding and Seed Production, where the experiment also lasted about 50 years. The yield of winter wheat during continuous cultivation without fertilizers was 20 c/ha, with the application of manure - 26.9 c/ha; in crop rotation - 35.5 and 54.4 c/ha, respectively.

The peasants fully appreciated the importance of alternating crops and it was not in vain that they coined the saying: “To sow bread after grain, neither grind nor winnow.” However, some plants, such as corn and potatoes, are less susceptible to monoculture. Sometimes the predecessor improves the growth of the subsequent crop, which largely applies to legumes. The noted phenomenon, which in the case of oppression received the name “soil fatigue,” has been known for a long time. Back in 1796, N. M. Maksimovich-Ambodik wrote about it in his work “The Initial Botanists of the Foundation.”

How can a predecessor influence a subsequent culture, and what role does the microbiological factor play? Here we encounter a complex of phenomena. Some plants one-sidedly deplete the soil of certain nutrients. Under row crops, the soil is not only depleted, but its structure also deteriorates significantly. It is not recommended to cultivate agricultural plants one after another that have common pests, including microbiological ones.

The fact that soil fatigue can be caused by microorganisms is evidenced by the experience of N. A. Krasilnikov. Clover seeds were added to flasks with an agarized mineral nutrient medium. A small amount of “tired” soil was placed in some of the flasks. This caused the rapid death of the seedlings under the influence of microorganisms. The same soil, but sterilized, did not produce an adverse effect (Table 18).

However, there are other reasons that determine the influence of one plant on another, in particular of a chemical nature. This is the so-called allelopathic effect of plants. The term “allelopathy” was proposed by the German scientist G. Molisch to define the chemical effect of one plant on another. Many angiosperms are capable of producing certain toxic substances, including alkaloids. These compounds not only accumulate in plant tissues, but are also partially released into the soil.

This property is inherent in most cultivated plants. Thus, the root system of oats secretes scopoletin (a substance close to coumarin), lei - a number of aromatic compounds (ferulic, hydroxybenzoic acids, etc.), alfalfa - alkaloids, sugar beets - cyclic compounds (hydroxybenzoic, coumaric, ferulic, vanillic acids ), etc.

N. G. Kholodny, and then other researchers, established that many volatile plant compounds have an allelopathic effect. Among them are aldehydes, terpenes, ethylene, essential oils, etc.

Some substances that have a toxic effect on plants have been found in crop residues. In the straw of cereal plants, such substances include cyclic compounds: coumaric, hydroxybeisoic, ferulic, syringic acids, etc. Quinones have a strong allelopathic effect.

G. Grümmer proposed to call substances of plant organisms that have a chemical effect on other plants

"Kolins". In high concentrations they inhibit plant growth, and in low concentrations they stimulate.

Obviously, scientifically based crop rotation should be based on the allelopathic factor. It is known that after sugar beets, corn grows poorly, after oats, the germination of wheat seeds drops sharply, and when barley is sowed again, its yield sharply decreases. Acute soil fatigue is observed in monocultures of sugar beets, flax, peas, clover, alfalfa, and many fruit plants. However, corn, potatoes, rye, tobacco, grapes and some vegetables do not experience suppression in monoculture.

As a rule, legumes (especially perennials) have a beneficial effect on subsequent crops due to the fact that they, in symbiosis with nodule bacteria, enrich the soil with nitrogen. This leads to a significant increase in the yield of subsequent crops. According to D.N. Pryanishnikov, after crop rotation with clover was introduced in Europe, the average yield of grain crops rose from 7 to 16 quintals per hectare. In TSKhA, on soddy-podzolic soil, a six-field crop rotation with annual clover allowed for a rye harvest of 13.4 c/ha for 50 years (without the application of mineral fertilizers). In the same crop rotation, but without clover, only 6.7 c/ha was obtained.

On black soil Voronezh region in a four-field crop rotation without legumes and fertilizer, winter wheat yielded about 20 c/ha. When using annual clover in crop rotation, the yield increased to 25, and biennial clover - to 28 c/ha. Such yields remained stable for 17 years.

The high efficiency of alfalfa and rapeseed as cotton precursors is well known. This is largely due to the fact that the root system of these plants releases compounds (alkaloids and other substances) into the soil that inhibit the pathogens of cotton wilt. In addition, alfalfa enriches the soil with nitrogen.

The great effectiveness of legumes as predecessors of agricultural plants has also been shown by foreign experimental institutions. Table 19 shows data from the Rothamsted

Experimental station (England), clearly demonstrating this.

Based on experimental data, D.N. Pryanishnikov concluded that pure sowing herbs are significantly more valuable as precursors of legumes compared to their mixtures with cereal grasses.

In conclusion, we note that in the middle of the 19th century, when, after the work of the German scientist J. Liebig, mineral fertilizers began to be widely used, the importance of crop rotation was often not taken into account. At first, yields increased sharply, but soon began to decline even with increasing fertilizer rates. The point of view of Moscow University professor Ya. A. Linovsky was justified, who pointed out that when solving issues of soil fertility, one should take into account not only the mineral nutrition of plants, but also other factors, including crop rotation.

Crop rotation is the main component of the farming system. This is a scientifically based rotation of crops and fallows over time and territory or only over time in one field. Its significance is very great and is considered from different points of view - economic planning, organizational, economic and agrotechnical. The main objectives of crop rotation are: 1) increasing soil fertility and rational use of its nutrients; 2) increasing productivity and improving the quality of crop products; 3) reducing the infestation of crops, their susceptibility to diseases and pests; 4) reducing the harmful effects of wind and water soil erosion. The rotation of crops is expressed by a crop rotation scheme. A crop rotation scheme is a list of groups of crops and fallows in the order of their rotation » crop rotation. Rotation is the period during which crops and fallows pass through each field in sequence according to the established crop rotation pattern. The rotation table highlights the crop and fallow placement plan by field and year for the rotation period. Each crop rotation consists of a certain number of links. A crop rotation link is a part of a crop rotation that represents a combination of two or three dissimilar crops or fallows. For example, links in crop rotation across a field that restore soil fertility: fallow link-1) clean fallow; 2) winter crops; row crop link-1) row crops; 2) cereals; grass link - 1) clover; 2) winter crops; 3) row crops. Scientific basis of crop rotation. The planning and economic significance is unconditional fulfillment a plan for the production and sale of agricultural products to the state while fully satisfying on-farm needs. For these purposes, taking into account concentration and specialization, a scientifically based structure of sown areas is being developed. It forms the economic basis of crop rotation. The organizational and economic importance of crop rotation is expressed in the most rational and highly productive use of equipment and labor in the interests of increasing agricultural production at the lowest cost of labor and money per unit of production. The agrotechnical importance of crop rotation lies in the rational use of arable land and methods of expanded reproduction of soil fertility. The main feature of crop rotation is the indispensable periodic or annual rotation of crops in each field of crop rotation. The rotation of crops is caused by a number of reasons. The study of these causes and the development of measures to eliminate them or reduce the negative impact on productivity constitute the agrotechnical, or natural science, basis of crop rotation.

8. The concept of tillage and its meaning. Types and methods of soil cultivation.

The combination of scientifically based techniques and processing methods has received the general name “mechanical tillage system” in practical and scientific agriculture. A mechanical tillage system is a set of basic and surface techniques, methods of moldboard and non-moldboard tillage to different depths, which are carried out by machines and tools, as well as combined units. These techniques and methods have a certain, logically interconnected sequence and are aimed at solving problems in accordance with the soil and climatic conditions of the zone, weediness of fields, biological characteristics and agrotechnical requirements of various varieties of cultivated crops. Modern tillage systems must be energy-resource-saving and soil-protective, inextricably linked with other elements of advanced technologies for cultivating agricultural crops. There are the following types of tillage: 1) basic - to a depth of 16 to 24 cm or more, which significantly changes the composition of the soil. This includes plowing, moldless plowing, deep flat-cutting, milling, chiseling and some special techniques; 2) superficial - to a depth of 8-10 cm, carried out by harrowing, cultivating, peeling, disking, rolling, grinding, etc.; 3) small - from 8 to 16 cm, carried out using both techniques. The main tillage is understood as the first deepest tillage of the soil using plowing. Plowing is carried out with plows with moldboards of various designs, which determines the dissimilarity of technological operations in composition and quality of execution. Plows with screw moldboards cover the soil layer well, but do not crumble it well; on the contrary, plows with a cylindrical moldboard surface crush the soil layer well, but do not wrap it well. Reception is a single impact on the soil with the working parts of machines or implements. Mechanical tillage techniques are divided into two groups: basic and surface tillage. Basic tillage methods mean the mechanical impact on the soil by the working parts of tillage machines and implements to the entire depth of the arable layer or deeper when it is deepened, but not less than 18-20 cm, in order to give the soil a fine-lumpy state with a favorable structure. Basic tillage methods are the most energy-intensive, but at the same time they solve many problems. By means of basic tillage techniques when deepening the arable layer, the prerequisites are created for a further increase in its thickness and soil cultivation. According to the founder of agricultural mechanics, Academician V.P. Goryachkin, plowing as the most common method of basic soil cultivation is the most important, longest, most expensive and hardest work. Its implementation requires up to 40% of energy and 25% of labor costs. Currently, the following methods of basic soil cultivation are common: a) cultural plowing (with plows with skimmers); b) processing with tools of special designs (tiered plows, Maltsev plows, subsoilers, cultivators); c) processing by milling machine; d) processing with disc plows, formation of cracks with slot cutters at 35-50 cm and others. Surface tillage methods mean a single mechanical impact on it by the working bodies of tillage machines and implements to a depth of 12-14 cm. Surface tillage methods include: peeling with moldboard and disk (tools) cultivators; cultivation with pruning and loosening working tools, including rod cultivators and flat cutters; hilling with hillers; harrowing various types bora with different forms of working bodies; trailing with trailing draggers, trailing harrows; rolling with different types of rollers with different shapes of the working surface; malnutrition; making rollers, furrows, holes, beds and ridges.

Crop rotation

Long-term cultivation of one or another garden crop in the same area invariably leads to a decrease in the physical and chemical qualities of the soil, its depletion and depletion, and the appearance of pathogens and insect pests. This, in turn, leads to a deterioration in the conditions in which plants develop.

Some crops, when grown for a long time in the same place, can cause significant qualitative changes in the soil. Thus, constant planting of cabbage on one site or another causes an increase in the acidity level of the soil. And in an area where onions always grow, the risk of nematodes increases many times over. In addition, some plants activate the removal of nutrients from the soil.

Long-term cultivation of any particular garden crop in the same area can be justified only on the condition that this does not lead to an increase in the number of colonies of pests and microorganisms that cause plant diseases. In order to prevent this, it is better to use a special method of cultivating vegetables and flower species– crop rotation, or annual alternation of crops.

As is known, the root system of plants not only nourishes their above-ground parts, but also actively participates in soil-forming processes, improving the soil microflora, its structure and physicochemical parameters. Thus, there is a direct relationship between the soil and the plant, consisting of the exchange of nutrients with the assistance of moisture, light and heat. Roots have the ability to release organic components into the soil, among which are acids of organic origin, phenolic compounds, hormones, sugars, vitamins and enzymes.

Long-term cultivation in the same area of ​​the plant certain type leads to the accumulation of colins in the soil, which deteriorate the structure and reduce the level of soil fertility. In most cases, the main reason for soil depletion and a decrease in crop yield is the accumulation of toxic substances released by the plants themselves during long-term cultivation on a permanent site.

Garden species that are particularly sensitive to the toxins they produce include beets and spinach. Leeks, legumes and corn are less sensitive. Large quantity toxic colins are produced by sweet peppers, cabbage, tomatoes, carrots and cucumbers.

Another reason why you should use the crop rotation method is the colonization of areas with constantly planted garden crops by insect pests and pathogens. Especially common diseases that arise as a result of cultivating one type of plant on a permanent plot are those caused by onion and carrot flies, leaf and root nematodes, as well as pathogens of root rot and root clubroot. Most in an efficient way Crop rotation is considered to combat them.

Typically, pests and pathogens affect representatives of a certain family of garden crops. In this regard, there is no need, for example, to plant turnips, radishes and radishes in those beds where cabbage previously grew. If clubroot occurs, it is recommended to plant cabbage in its original place no earlier than 6 years after the year of infection. On such a site it is possible to cultivate such species representing a different family.

Crop rotation allows you to protect the soil from depletion and degeneration, and plants from pests and diseases. In addition, this method of farming helps prevent the removal of nutrients from the soil. At the same time, it is necessary to know which crops are capable of maximally improving the quality of the soil.

It is known that plants that have a well-developed root system, through which nutrients flow from deep soil horizons to the surface ones, can increase soil fertility. In addition, they make the soil looser. This is especially important for heavy loamy and clayey soils.

When choosing garden crops to ensure crop rotation on the site, you can use the table. 12.