EFFECT OF BASIC TILLAGE SYSTEMS ON PRODUCTIVITY AND COST EFFICIENCY OF GRAIN CROP CULTIVATION

Abstract

Comparative evaluation is given from the long-term application of different tillage systems for dark gray forest soil in the grain/fallow rotation. It has been found that the moldboard system provides the best conditions for the grain yield formation and wheat grain quality, in particular in the last crops, and contributes to obtaining the maximum net income. The basic tillage systems with the elements of reduced tillage provide the same productivity of winter rye and wheat (first and second crops after fallow) as the moldboard system, but result in reducing productivity of wheat and barley (third and forth crops after fallow), being the last crops, by 0.09-0.40 t/ha with and without fertilizer application. The effectiveness of resource-saving tillage systems will increase, when short revolutions with bare fallow are applied, as well as when the repeated wheat is replaced with a grain-legume crop. It has been found that the effectiveness of mineral fertilizers increases in the all tillage systems studied with moving a crop away from fallow. Against the background of non-fertilizer application, the systems being most closely to the moldboard one as to net income are subsoil tillage, disking, differential system, which yield only 1-2.7% to the moldboard system, providing the equal level of grain production profitability and increasing it by 9% as to subsoil tillage. Against the background of fertilizer application, subsoil tillage, combined and differential systems yield 5.2-8.1% to the moldboard system in net income, and 7% in profitability.