The influence of technological measures on the structural and aggregate composition of the soil during the cultivation of sugar beet

Abstract

Goal. To determine how the application of various combinations of elements of agricultural technologies affects the change in the properties of typical chornozem during the cultivation of sugar beet. Methods. Two crop rotations and two methods of soil cultivation were used, namely, plowing to a depth of 30–35 cm with a PLN535 plow, and the use of a soil cultivation loosening-and-separating machine “Dokuchaievska” PRSM5 (stratifier) with a depth of soil cultivation of 12–15 cm, without turning the soil layer. The scheme of the experiment included variants with mineral and organic fertilizers. To determine the structural-aggregate composition of the soil, the method of sifting it on sieves was used, the soil was weighed, the relative mass of each fraction was calculated, and the coefficient of soil structure was determined. Results. Under the conditions of using the mineral nutrition system, the structural coefficient did not undergo significant chan­ges compared to the control variant, regardless of the type of crop rotation and the method of soil cultivation. In the case of applying 70 t/ha of organic fertilizers, a significant improvement in structure was observed — up to 3.7–4.1 units — even in the upper layer of the arable soil horizon, and in the case of deep fallow treatment — up to 5.0–5.4 units. As the processing depth increased, the structure factor increased significantly, reaching values of 5.1–5.5 in fruit crop rotation and 4.8–5.0 in grain rotation. The simultaneous application of organic and mineral fertilizers made it possible to increase the coefficient of structure up to 3.9–5.4 units while preserving the tendency to better structure in the middle part of the arable soil horizon. Conclusions. Based on the results of the analysis of changes in the structural state of chornozem under the influence of the differentiation of the sugar beet nutrition system in different crop rotations, it was concluded that the soil was in good general condition.