Fertility indicators, yield and quality of soybean grain in the Tula region with different systems of soil treatment

Soybeans are among the most important agricultural crops. The grain of this crop is used in food, feed production and even for technical purposes. The purpose of the research was to study the fertility, yield and quality of soybean grain in the Tula region under diff erent systems of soil treatment. A pattern was found in the formation of agrophysical and agrochemical fertility indicators of leached Chernozem under soybeans. It was shown that with deep soil treatment optimal parameters of density and nutrient regime are formed. Minimization of the soil treatment system contributed to an increase in its density in the arable layer of 0–30 cm with the use of moldboard-less loosening by 0.02 g/cm3, against the background of disking by 0.10 g/cm3. The amount of nitrates in the 0–30 cm layer with the moldboard tillage system was 15.98 mg/kg, which was 7.24 and 11.46 % higher than with moldboard-less loosening and disk tillage, respectively. The content of P2O5 in the 1-meter soil layer was low both with the plowing system (48.16 mg/kg) and with disking (49.66 mg/kg), and high against the background of the moldboard-less loosening system (51.45 mg/kg). The amount of K2O in the 0–100 cm layer with the moldboard tillage and moldboard-less loosening systems was 7.23 and 10.00 % higher than with disking, respectively. Actual, exchangeable and hydrolytic acidity showed a diverse direction. In general, their values were favorable for the growth and development of soybeans. Over the years of research the sum of exchangeable bases in the 0–30 and 0–100 cm layers was 23.78–29.71 mg-eq/100 g of soil. The highest content was noted with the disk soil treatment system.