The paper presents the results of research into the formation of phytosanitary conditions for spring wheat crops grown with No-Till technology, compared to the traditional one, with regard to basic pests and diseases. The long-term stationary experiment was laid down in 2008 on leached сhernozem in the Central forest-steppe Ob agrolandscape district of Novosibirsk region. At the beginning of development of No-Till technology, plant residues decomposed on the soil surface almost completely, but after fi ve years of use, a mulch cover began to form, which did not decompose during the vegetative period. This affected the temperature dynamics of the upper soil layer. With No-Till technology it was 1.1-6.0 °C lower. This infl uenced settling of barley fl ea beetles in crops. On average, over the last 7 years of experiment, their number was 2.4 times lower in wheat crops grown with No-Till technology compared to traditional one. Damage of main shoots by intra-stem pests was 1.5 times, and lateral ones 1.4 times higher in wheat crops with traditional technology compared to No-Till. In contrast, presence of wheat thrips larvae in ears was 1.3 times higher when using No-Till compared to traditional technology. Despite the accumulation of plant residues on the soil surface, there was no signifi cant increase in the damage to plants by common root rot with No-Till technology. On average, when using No-Till technology wheat root system was affected by 1.8% more compared to the traditional one. The problem of root rot can be solved by including phytosanitary crops in the crop rotation, like oats and oil radish. There were no signifi cant differences in the development of leaf infections (Septoria blight, powdery mildew, brown rust) between both technologies. Timely use of fungicides eliminates the problem of leaf diseases. The study showed that problems with pests and diseases are solved by the chemical treatments included in the technology, and that with No-Till technology additional protective measures are not required.

The results of the research (2016–2018) into variability of characteristics of spring barley with the purpose of obtaining the most resistant varieties are presented. The study was conducted in the crop rotation in the breeding nursery of competitive variety testing in the forest-steppe zone of the Republic of Tuva. It was preceded by bare fallow and repeated four times. The soil was dark chestnut, light loamy. The area of the plot registered for the study was 28 m2. Testing, phenological observations, crop records and data processing were carried out in accordance with the approved methodological guidelines. The weather conditions for moisture availability and the average daily temperature regime during the study period varied signifi cantly:  in 2016, 2018, which was excessively wet, HTC (hydrothermal coeffcient) was 1.65, 1.90, in moderately humid 2017 HTC equaled 1.36. This made it possible to reliably identify more adapted biotypes of spring barley. In the Republic of Tuva, the yield of spring barley largely depends on the adaptive properties of cultivated varieties and the implementation of the main parameters of the yield structure: the number of productive stems, pieces/m2 (r = 0.726 ± 0.01 ... 0.960 ± 0.266); the mass of 1000 grains, g (r = 0.648 ± 0.179 ... 0.883 ± 0.245). An increase in the number of grains in an ear negatively affects crop yields (r = 0.212 ± 0.058 ... – 0.457 ± 0.126). From the samples of spring barley of Siberian breeding work that were studied in the research, the following samples were identifi ed for further breeding for productivity (L 19-101, U 50-3808, U 49-3795); a large number of productive stems (Acha, L 19-101, U 49-3795, U 50-3808); high mass of 1000 grains (Acha, L 19-101, U 50-3808, U 49-3795). These varieties should be included in the cross-breeding adaptive program on the territory of the Republic of Tuva.

The paper shows the effectiveness of methods of somaclonal variability in combination with multiple individual selection for creating new soybean varieties characterized by early ripeness and increased seed productivity for sub-arid regions of Russia and Kazakhstan with cold continental climate. Soybean breeding material was created using biotechnology methods combined with multiple individual selection. Higher regeneration potential of soybean tissues of SibNIIK 315 variety compared to Omskaya-4 variety was revealed. The ability to regenerate is associated with the adaptability of SibNIIK 315 variety, which is confi rmed by the wider area of its cultivation in various ecological and geographical conditions in fi ve regions of Russia and Kazakhstan. Tissues of apexes and cotyledonary nodes of R21 somaclonal line differed from the original SibNIIK 315 variety by the increased activity of callus formation, regeneration and growth of shoots. Tissues of regenerated plants passed repeatedly through the regeneration cycle according to the protocol of recurrent regeneration. Due to this, high morphogenic activity of R21 tissues can be the result of autoselection in vitro. The analysis of phenotypic variations in early generations of soybean somaclones showed an asymmetric distribution of deviations by the main breeding and marker traits: duration of vegetation, plant height and seed productivity, as well as dependence of distribution on weather conditions. In a dry year most somaclonal lines had a higher seed productivity, whereas in favourable conditions of a humid summer only every third line was superior to the original variety. This indicates increased levels of ontogenetic adaptation of somaclones in extreme drought conditions.

The architecture of an agrarian intelligent system is proposed, which forms the basis for a selflearning management decision support system. The system is designed to cover all stages of the preliminary analysis – from the agricultural problem formulation to the provision of an analytical report, forecast or recommendation. Based on the knowledge generated by the system, a person who does not even have a special education in agriculture can make an adequate managerial decision. The system consists of the following set of modules and blocks: the space of agricultural tasks, the space of data sources, data storage, journals, the space of models, the documentation space of decision support, the task (as an element of space), formalization of user data, formation of an input data array for applying the model, the model output data, indicators, models, the access to journals, data selection, the active circuit of the agrarian intelligent system, nodes of the agrarian intelligent system. In the future this system will be able to automate the mаnаgement of agricultural processes within the framework of the approach referred to as “Smart farming”. It is also proposed to use, in addition to the well-known models (imitation, optimization, and others), the concept of agent modeling, on which many modern foreign systems of predictive technologies in agriculture are based. The fl exibility of the system allows one to adapt it in order to solve the widest range of agricultural producer problems depending on the enterprise production specialization, climatic conditions of agricultural activities, the choice of cultivated crops and the level of intensifi cation of agricultural technologies. The system is built as fl exible and wide as possible in order to adapt to various requests, including those that may arise in the future, but have not yet been formulated at present.

The work presents the results of the analysis of combine harvesters’ classifi cation systems applied in the former USSR, the Russian Federation and the CIS countries, as well as in the USA and Argentina. The expediency of their application is shown depending on the purpose of combines, advertising, organizing their production and operation in various climatic and industrial conditions. Classifi cation by structural and energy parameters is necessary when developing new combines. However, it does not reveal the potential functionality of combines and the effi ciency of their work in specifi c zonal conditions with signifi cant fl uctuations in yield, moisture, straw content and other physical and mechanical properties of harvested crops. In Russia and the CIS countries, combine harvesters are classifi ed according to their nominal throughput specifi ed in the passport. It is characterized by the value of the actual supply of grain bulk in kilograms per second to the combine thresher with a grain loss of 1.5% whereby grain is threshed in the direct way with standard yield and specifi ed moisture and straw content. Previously, the standard in the USSR stipulated that testing should be carried out in areas with the yield of at least 4 t/ha. In some areas, due to a low grain yield, it was not possible to indicate the conditions of comparative tests. The standards of the Russian Federation provide for comparative testing of combines during grain threshing with a yield characteristic of the zone. This contradicts the principles of the identity of comparative test conditions. To solve this urgent scientifi c problem, it is necessary to develop alternative, less laborintensive methods for comparative testing of combines in determining their nominal throughput recommended by the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation. At the same time, it is necessary to allow underutilization of the nominal throughput of the harvester of no more than 10%. Overloading the thresher is not allowed, since it leads to signifi cant grain losses during threshing.

The analysis of the study of water erosion of soils on the territory of the West Siberian Plain using geo-information technologies (GIS) and Earth remote sensing was carried out. It is shown that GIS and Earth remote sensing are not widely used in erosion studies in Western Siberia and are used by a limited number of modern researchers. However, the use of digital technologies in this area is characterized by the coverage of almost the full range of their capabilities and functions: digital mapping, the formation of spatially-distributed thematic databases, monitoring, space-time analysis, modeling, automated mapping. The bulk of such research is concentrated mainly within the Novosibirsk and Omsk regions, in the Altai Territory, and to a lesser extent in the Tomsk and Kemerovo regions. Digital technologies for studying water erosion in Western Siberia are more often used to study the dependence of water erosion on its determining factors (mainly topography), the effect of water erosion on soils and soil cover, in morphometric analysis of the relief, land classifi cation and mapping. The problem of remote monitoring of the temporal dynamics of water erosion and related changes in topography, soil cover, soil properties, etc. is practically not dealt with. The issues of geoinformational modeling of water erosion in terms of elaboration of detail and scale, and coverage of a larger number of areas require further development. When modeling water erosion, the nature of surface runoff is not always taken into account. The approach to the selection of criteria for the assessment of erosional land at different scales of their mapping is not entirely clear. It remains an open question to develop a methodology for the automated calculation of standards for permissible erosional losses of soil. In general, the use of Earth remote sensing and GIS facilities in the study of water erosion in the soils of Western Siberia is not systematic and comprehensive. This is confi rmed by the presence of a number of problems in the study of water erosion in the given area, which requires a digital approach to their solution.

The seasonal changes in the skin thickness and structure of the horses’ coat, as signs of adaptation to environmental factors, were studied. The experiment was carried out with the livestock kept in a herd using winter-grazing technology without additional feedings in the climatic conditions of the Trans-Baikal Territory. The objects of the research were adult mares of Zabaikalsky breed of horses of the same age, class and fatness. The studies were carried out in the middle of each season (May, July, October, February). The length of the coat was measured with a caliper, the coat itself with the determination of the ratio of hair (fl uffy hair, heterotype hair and coarse hair) and the thickness of the skin fold were measured in accordance with the approved methodological recommendations. The minimum skin thickness in winter was detected in mares on the back and shoulder blade – 4.3 and 4.4 mm, the maximum – on the side and thigh – 4.5 4.6 mm. When compared with the summer period, the increase on the side was 0.8 mm, whereas on the back, shoulder blade and thigh – 0.4 mm (p ≤ 0,001). In spring, thickening of the skin was noted within 0.1-0.3 mm in the same topographic areas, compared to autumn. The quantitative indicators of the coat changed depending on the season of the year. In winter, the coat contained more fl uffy hair (23.10%), and less coarse hair (68.24%), in summer there was a lower content of fl uffy hair (4.33%), but more coarse hair (94.01%.) Sharp seasonal changes were noted with regard to the length of the hair. The longest hair was found in winter and spring – 4.96 and 4.26 cm, whereas the shortest – in summer and autumn – 0.94 and 1.90 cm, respectively.

The research was conducted in the fi eld of dairy cattle breeding with the use of genetic markers (SNPs) in order to study their relationship with the period of economic use of cows and their productivity. The object of the study was 186 cows of Simmental breed from the farm situated in Novosibirsk region. To study cows’ productivity (milk yield, fat, protein, the number of lactations) the data of zootechnical records was used. Molecular genetic research and statistical processing of experimental results were carried out according to generally accepted methods. The paper presents the results of the herd assessment by polymorphism of CSN3, PRL, BLG, TNF-α-824 genes, whose genotype frequency corresponds to a particular breed. Gene balance is not disturbed (χ2 = 0.147– 2,306). Homo and heterozygosity are approximately in the same ratio, except for the homozygosity of the gene PRL (0,736). Genotypes of cows desirable for productive longevity were identifi ed: BLGBB, PRLAA, PRLAB, TNF-αGG, whose number in the third lactation was over 70% in relation to the fi rst. The highest productive longevity was observed in animals with genotypes BLGBB and PRLAA, where 9.0% and 8.3% of their number, respectively, had a fourth lactation. Genotype BLGAA can be referred to as a desirable genotype for milk productivity. The difference from carriers of genotype BLGBB was 624 kg (p < 0.01). In the gene TNF-α, a higher yield in the second lactation at 787.3 kg was observed in cows with genotype TNFAA, compared to genotype TNF-αGG (p < 0.01). The same animals were found to have an increased content of fat in milk by 0.07% and protein by 0.05% (p < 0.01).

The results of the study of milk productivity and lactation rates of fi rst-calf cows are presented. The research into fi rst-calf cows of black-andwhite Holstein breed, belonging to sire lines of Wis Ideal 1013415 and Refl ection Sovereign 198998 was conducted in 2018 in Novosibirsk region. The number of cows under study was 64, the period of the study covered 305 days of lactation. Monitoring of milk production, milk fl ow intensity, fat and protein content was carried out monthly. The research materials were analyzed for groups of cows depending on their sire line and productivity for single and daily milk yield, fat and protein content, and dynamics of milk ejection for the fi rst 3 minutes of milking. The highest daily milk yield in both lines was observed in the second month of lactation. In the fourth and fi fth months of lactation, the average daily milk yield of Refl ection Sovereign cows was signifi cantly higher (р < 0.001) than that of their peers of the Vis Ideal line, by 1.3 kg. During the lactation period, the productivity of the Vis Ideal and Refl ection Sovereign cows was almost the same: milk yield – 8296 and 8220 kg, fat content – 4.02 and 4.06%, protein – 3.36 and 3.35% and milk fl ow intensity – 2.70 and 2.78 kg/min, respectively. In the second and third months of lactation, cows of both lines had a decrease in the content of fat, protein and intensity of milk fl ow with a gradual increase in these indices in the fourth and fi fth months of lactation. First-calf cows of the black-and-white breed of Canadian selection of different sire lines showed a high level of milk productivity and proved to be suitable for further breeding work.

A quantitative assessment of the current state of natural fodder areas located in the Turano-Uyuk basin (Tuva) was made. Vegetation monitoring was carried out on the basis of Terra Modis satellite data by the following indicators: normalized vegetation index, gross primary production (GPP) and evapotranspiration. The productivity of plant associations was compared, their growth rate and the degree of GPP dependence on the sum of temperatures and evapotranspiration were determined. The results of ground-based studies performed by generally accepted methods were used for verifi cation. Remote indicators of gross production for the growing season ranged from 33.3 t/ha for halophytic meadows, and up to 48.8 t/ ha for wetland habitats. Depending on the species composition, gross productivity of glycophytic meadows during the growing season was 39.9– 48.7 t/ ha. A comparison of the data showed signifi cant differences in the remote and actual productivity of fodder areas, which can be leveled by means of correlation with the ground-based indicators. The best results of the relationship between gross primary production and the vegetation index with the sum of positive temperatures were identifi ed by polynomial equations of the third degree. The maximum period of phytomass development of natural fodder areas (meadow communities) was recorded before the beginning of June. Biological and environmental differences in the growth of vegetation during the season were noted in the period from 10-11 June to 19-20 July. The decrease in the accumulation of gross primary production by mid-July and the end of September was caused by weather conditions. The optimal grazing periods in the meadows in the Turano-Uyuk basin were determined.

The work presents the results of research into productivity of traditional and uncommon silage crops – sunfl ower and Sudan grass – sown as a single crop and intercropped with broad beans, spring rape and oil radish. The study was carried out on meadow chernozem mealy-carbonate soil in the forest-steppe zone of Trans-Baikal Territory. The objects of the research were the following recognized varieties: Yenisei sunfl ower, Sudan grass Novosibirsk 84, broad beans Sibirskiye, spring rape Spat, oil radish Tambovchanka.  Agricultural technology used for fodder crop cultivation was common for this area. Sunfl ower was sown both as a single crop and intercropped with broad beans in the third ten-day period of May in wide alternating rows. Sudan grass was sown both as a single crop and intercropped with spring rape and oil radish in the second ten-day period of May in rows. The experimental work was carried out alongside laboratory observations and analyses in accordance with the generally accepted guidelines for fi eld experiments on fodder crops. The possibility of increasing fodder productivity and nutritional value of silage agrocenoses was established by means of intercropping sunfl ower and Sudan grass with broad beans and cabbage crops (spring rape and oil radish) and sowing them in herbage in alternating rows. The experiment noted the maximum collection of feed units of 2.96-5.22 t/ha, digestible protein of 414.2-621.1 kg/ha and gross energy of 35.467.1 GJ/ha with the availability of digestible protein in the amount of 118.9-139.9 g per one feed unit and 10.0-10.7 MJ of metabolic energy per 1 kg of dry matter.