Productivity of short-rotation crops depending on soil tillage methods

The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of soil cultivation methods on its agrophysical indicators and the productivity of crop rotation during organic cultivation of field crops. The experimental design included a five course grain-fallow-row crop rotation: autumn fallow – winter wheat – sunflower – spring barley – grain corn. In crop rotation, three methods of soil cultivation were used: plowing with turnover of the layer to a depth of 20–27 cm; chisel subsoil tillage with a depth of 40–45 cm and stratification with a loosening depth of 10–15 cm. The experiment included three fertilizer grounds: crop residues without mineral fertilization; crop residues and mineral fertilizers N25P25K25; crop residues and mineral fertilizers with high nitrogen content N50P25K25. A comparison of different methods of tillage in terms of crop rotation productivity showed the advantage of plowing and chisel tillage in the absence of mineral fertilizers. The application of mineral fertilizers increases the productivity of crop rotation. The greatest effect (increase by 14 %) is observed when stratifying due to worse initial conditions of mineral nutrition.