PRODUCTIVITY OF GREEN MANURE CROPS DEPENDING ON HYDROTHERMAL CONDITIONS

Abstract

Green manuring can increase biological activity of the soil, enrich it with organic matter, nutrients and improve its agrophysical and agrochemical properties. The aim of the research was to establish the influence of green manure crops species composition on the productivity of agrophytocenoses and the input of soil organic matter under various hydrothermal conditions. The studies were conducted in 2016–2019 on the experimental fields of the Research Institute of Agriculture of Crimea. Soil – chernozems southern low-humus. Average daily air temperature was: in 2016 – 11.8 °С; in 2017 – 12.7 °С; in 2018 – 12.5 °С; in 2019 – 12.6 °С (average long-term values – 10.8 °С). The amount of precipitation over the years was at the level of 162, 67, 129, 108 % of the norm. The experiments were laid according to B. A. Dospekhov “Methods of field research”. Position of the variants is systematic, triple replication. Fields square – 720 m2. The research subject is green manure crops agrocenoses. The object of the research is the process of forming the productivity of green manure crops. On average, over the years of research, the highest yield of green mass was formed by sweet clover and sainfoin (29.1 and 27.1 t/ha, respectively), winter triticale (24.5 t/ha) and winter rye (25.8 t/ha). T. pratense and P. tanacetifolia were low-yielding. The largest amount of accumulated soil organic matter was detected when rye, triticale, sainfoin and sweet clover were used as green manure; it was 5.88, 5.72, 5.56 and 5.52 t/ha, respectively. We established an average correlation (at 5 % significance level) between the amount of precipitation for the period “sowing – ripeness” in 2016–2017 and the yield of green mass of green manure crops (r = 0.52), as well as dry matter yield (r = 0.59). A negative correlation of average strength was also established between the average daily temperature of the period “sowing – ripeness” in 2017–2018 and yield of green mass (r = –0.66), as well as organic matter yield (r = –0.64).