Improving soil properties and productivity of crop-pasture rotation in arid steppe of the Southern Urals

Abstract

Field experiments were conducted in the arid steppe zone of the Southern Urals, in the Republic of Bashkortostan of the Russian Federation. The soil is common chernozem. The precipitation during the growing season (May-September) is 166 mm. The experimental crop rotation consisted of 7 fields: 4 with perennial herbs (a mixture of Bromus inermis and Medicago varia), 3 with annual crops. The study analysed soil properties and carrying capacity in perennial grass rotation, conventional and reduced tillage. During the crop-pasture rotation, the humus content in the soil changes insignificantly depending on the tillage, being within 7.6-8.0 %. Perennial grasses loosened the soil, positively affecting moisture accumulation under crop rotation by the beginning of the pre-sowing period. The arable layer of common chernozem in the reduced tillage had a density of 1.05 g/cm3, less than 0.06 g/cm3 in conventional cultivation. Fertilizer application increased yields at 0.49-0.51 t/ha of feed units. Reduced tillage resulted in higher feed units by 0.06-0.08 tons per 1 ha. Crop-pasture rotation implementation and development ensures bioclimatically-determined yields of fodder crops and maintains soil fertility at an optimal level.