Methods of gentle tillage for the cultivation of various kinds of agricultural crops have been used on the fields in Russia for quite some time. For example, since the last century, in our country, non-mold technology is widely used, in which the upper layer of fertile land does not turn over during basic preparation. An even more gentle method, allowing to preserve the structure of soils, is minimal. Recently, in Russia this technology is also gaining more and more popularity.
The disadvantages of the traditional method
The disadvantages of conventional dumping technology, in which the land is cultivated for growing crops, for example, plowshares to a considerable depth, is primarily:
Ultimately, when using traditional methods of preparing fields for sowing, crop yields are reduced. Over the years of using dump technologies, the land in many areas on the territory of Russia has been significantly depleted or has changed its structure for the worse. In some cases, it even became completely unsuitable for cultivating crops.
The use of the non-waste technique led to some improvement in the situation with soil in the fields in Russia. Using the minimum processing method in the future can fix all the harm done to the land in our country over the years of irrational and consumer operation. And this, in turn, of course, will have the most beneficial effect on the state of such an important sector of the economy as agriculture.
What does minimal tillage mean?
When using this technology, the soil in the fields loosens only to the depth of seed placement or is not processed at all. In the latter case, herbicides are used intensively against weeds in the plots. Also features of minimal tillage are:
combination of a number of technological operations in one pass of equipment;
active use of pesticides in order to reduce the area occupied by land cultivation;
use of equipment that does not exert too much pressure on the soil.
Also, when applying minimal technology in farms, they try to reduce the number of treatments by performing each operation with the optimal physical condition of the soil.
Such a technique can be used when growing most varieties of crops. For example, it is considered appropriate to use the technology of minimal tillage for corn, beets, sunflowers, cereals, etc.
The advantages of the method
The main advantage of this technique, of course, is the ability to prevent erosion, weathering and deterioration of the structure of the earth. Also, the advantages of using the minimal tillage technology include, of course, the reduction in labor and production costs at the initial stage of growing agricultural crops.
In addition, the use of such a technique prevents the formation of a dense underlayer in the fields. Such a layer is created in areas due to the passage of heavy equipment from year to year. If it is present, rain and thawed moisture subsequently in areas with a slope drains and absorbs into the ground where there is no underburden. On flat fields, water stagnates, which, of course, extremely negatively affects the state of the soil.
The stubble (the remains of the stems of cut plants) when using the minimum processing technology does not bury in the soil, but is ground and evenly distributed in the form of mulch over the field. Thanks to this, the structure of the land from year to year is becoming increasingly suitable for growing agricultural crops. Of course, mulch greatly contributes to the saturation of the soil with humus.
What other advantages does technology have
The abandonment of plowing the land when growing crops has another important advantage. Equipment in the field in this case is driven out much less frequently. And this, in turn, has a beneficial effect on the ecology of the area. When using the technology of minimal tillage, less harmful gases are released into the air. In addition, in this case, pollution of nearby water bodies does not occur.
Expediency of application
There are practically no drawbacks to the minimal technique. The only thing is that it can not be used in all fields. The most appropriate use of such technology is considered on chernozems. In such regions, the soil is usually loose enough for a variety of agricultural crops to grow and produce high yields without any treatment.
On dense soils, loosening before sowing is likely to be a necessary procedure. But in this case, the use of minimization technology is still possible. Unfortunately, for a long time in such fields plowing was carried out to a depth far exceeding that necessary for the normal development of crops. The use of minimum processing techniques allows us to correct this defect. You can not apply this technology mainly only in wet and swampy areas.
Cons of the method: chemical pollution of the earth
A certain drawback of the minimization technology, of course, is the need to use a large number of herbicides. Substances are mostly chemical. Accordingly, they are not able to influence the composition of the earth in the best way. Without the use of herbicides, the fields that were not too intensively cultivated in autumn and spring quickly overgrow with weeds.
The need to use pesticides to intensify the cultivation of crops in order to reduce the area of cultivated land, of course, can also be attributed to some disadvantages of minimization technology. As you know, such substances are able to accumulate in the green parts of plants and in their fruits. That is, they can potentially be a danger to human health.
Features of technology application
What is the essence of minimal tillage and its significance, therefore, is understandable. But what are the main features of this technology? Farms wishing to switch to the minimum methodology, among other things, will need to take care of attracting highly qualified personnel. Agronomists working in such agricultural enterprises should know their job very well. The success of growing crops with minimal tillage to a large extent depends on the accuracy of compliance with all technologies, taking into account the peculiarities of the structure and composition of the land, climatic conditions, the presence of pests and their varieties, as well as many other factors.
Of course, if you want to grow agricultural crops by this method, farms will have to purchase all kinds of special equipment. And this, of course, will lead to additional costs in the first stage.
Microflora
The technology of minimal tillage, as well as subsurface, has another drawback. Most varieties of crop pests in the autumn lay eggs at some depth in the ground. Thus, they protect their offspring from winter cold. When applying the usual processing technology, the earth layer turns over, as a result of which the eggs are on the surface and simply freeze in winter.
Using the minimum technique, eggs laid by pests remain in the earth and in spring new insects hatch from them. Therefore, in the fields in the future, it is also necessary to apply a rather large amount of insecticides.
However, the need to control pests in the case of using the technology of minimal tillage is largely compensated by the fact that in the inverted soil it subsequently remains and awakens with the onset of the warm season, and all microflora useful for plants. Using this technique, the earth literally remains “alive”. And this, in turn, of course, has a very beneficial effect on the development of crops.
Statistics
Thus, we found out what are the pros and cons of minimal tillage. At the moment, this technology for our country is still quite a new technique. Many farms are still afraid to introduce it in their fields. This is primarily due to the fact that its use is fraught with high costs at the initial stage, as well as the emergence of difficulties due to weediness of fields or, for example, invasion of pests.
But experts believe that such concerns are, to a large extent, still completely in vain. Modern herbicides and insecticides can successfully cope with the problem of both weeds and pests. The initial costs for the purchase of equipment and the involvement of skilled workers will ultimately pay off by increasing crop yields and maintaining land structure.
The fact that such a technique can be beneficial for farms is also indicated by statistical data. For example, scientists calculated that labor costs when using the minimum tillage technology for winter wheat, rye, beets, carrots, etc. are subsequently reduced by 1.6 times. They spend 2.2 times on fuel and lubricants, farms that have switched to this technology. Maintenance of equipment in such agricultural enterprises is 1.5 times cheaper.
Light equipment
Reducing the harmful effects on the soil due to the large number of technological operations including the use of heavy equipment is thus one of the undoubted advantages of the minimum tillage technique. When using traditional methods of plowing, tractors weighing more than 15 tons with multi-body heavy plows are often driven out into the fields. The density of the soles formed in this case can reach 1.7 g / cu. Of course, this extremely negatively affects the condition of the soil in the fields.
When applying the minimum technology in the areas, light equipment is used, designed for loosening:
KPP-2.2.
KPG-250.
KSh-3.8.
BIG-1, etc.
Combining operations
Also, work can be performed using units designed for combined processing:
APK-2.5.
RVK-3.61.
SZS-2.21, etc.
The implementation of several operations on the field in one pass re-compaction of the soil prevents very effectively. For example, in farms at the same time the following land cultivation activities can be carried out:
presowing cultivation;
sowing itself;
fertilizer application;
rolling.
To perform all these operations on the field at the same time allows, for example, equipment such as the SZS-2.21 seeder-cultivator.
Minimum tillage: conclusions
Thus, using this modern technology, the soil can:
That is, in this case, the most labor-intensive part of the work on growing crops is practically excluded - the main and pre-sowing tillage. Due to this feature, many call the minimal technology “a technique for the lazy.” However, since this method of cultivation does not lead to a decrease in yield in the fields at the first stages and contributes to its increase in the future due to improved properties of the land, it is certainly advisable to use it on farms (in not too humid areas).
Good results can be obtained, for example, by the use of minimal tillage technology in Eastern Siberia, Western, Southern, Middle and Southern Urals, in the Central regions, in the south of Russia and in many other regions.