Assessment of the tillage impact on soybean productivity

Abstract

Modern crop production technologies depend on the intensity of soil cultivation. Traditional cultivation methods increase production costs and harm the environment. The research relevance is determined by the need to find effective and environmentally friendly alternative tillage technologies that will reduce the cost of agricultural production and have a positive impact on the environment. The research aims to determine the influence of the soil tillage system on the formation of soybean plant productivity. Research methods: long-term stationary experiment, laboratory determination of soil agrophysical properties, statistical data processing. The field research was carried out at the Agronomic Research Station, a separate subdivision of the National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine, in a stationary experiment of the Department of Agriculture and Herbology. Soybean yields under the No-till system were found to be 22.7% higher than under the conventional system, which in absolute terms was 2.81 t/ha under the No-till system and 2.29 t/ha under the conventional system. No-till provided higher soil moisture content and the share of agronomically valuable aggregates at a higher soil density than the traditional system. In general, the efficiency of moisture use by soybean plants under the shelf tillage system was 16.0% lower compared to the no-till system. The use of the conventional tillage system on average in 2020-2022 led to a decrease in the structural structure of the 0-30 cm soil layer studied by 8-33%. The amount of agronomically valuable aggregates (0.25-10 mm) depended on the tillage system. The No-till system increased the agronomically valuable structure in the 0-10 cm soil layer by 15.5%, the 10-20 cm layer by 10.3% and the 20-30 cm layer by 9.1% compared to the conventional tillage system at the beginning of the growing season and by 4.2%, 7.3% and 4.7%, respectively, at the end of the growing season. The practical significance of the obtained research results is to determine the optimal soil cultivation system for the realisation of the genetic potential of soybean to form its stable productivity