Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
excessive spudding of the plow horizon, compression of the underlying layers, much greater
water and wind erosion, and a growing dependence on adverse weather conditions.
One of the promising methods of reducing the negative impact of unfavorable weather
and human factors on soil is the application of a mulch layer.
A mulch layer gives the soil universal protection, suppresses the kinetic energy of falling
raindrops, ensures good drainage, prevents the formation of rainfall runoffs, and reduces
evaporation. Mulch stimulates the activity of microorganisms, increases the number of
earthworms making numerous channels in the soil, keeps the warmth in autumn and winter,
reduces the temperature in summer, increases water stability of the aggregates, improves the
bearing capacity of the soil and increases the amount of nutrients available to the plants. In
agriculture, mulching is the most effective method, which stimulates the accumulation and
retention of moisture and has a positive impact on many other soil properties.
The term ―mulching‖ is currently used in two senses. In the broad sense, it refers to any
artificial impact on the topsoil, even its ordinary cultivation.
In the narrower sense, mulching means coating the topsoil with certain material or
incorporation of the material into the topsoil. In this study we focused on the incorporation of
different mulch materials (in the soil layer of 0-5 cm).
In recent years, mulching has received greater attention worldwide. There have been
numerous scientific publications (Romanenko, 2007; Klocke et al., 2009; Jodaugiene et al.,
2010; Azadegan et al., 2011; Bagirov, 2001, and others), exhibitions and fairs of various
foreign and domestic equipment for minimum tillage and no-tillage mulching systems.
R
ESEARCH
M
ETHODS
The author carried out a series of laboratory and field experiments from 1991 to 1997 to
do the research. This paper summarizes data from three field experiments. Experiment 1 was
conducted from 1991 to 1995, Experiment 2 from 1994 to 1996, and Experiment 3
(production) was performed in 1996. The experiments were done to agro-soddly-podzolic
lightly washed-off light and medium loamy soils. The agrochemical characteristics of these
soils are shown in Table 1.
Table 1. Agrochemical characteristics of the soils before the experiment (plow horizon)
V,
%
Hг
S
Р
2
О
5
К
2
О
Humus,
%
Experiment #
рH
KСI
mmol/ 100g
mg/kg
1
4.9
3.4
11.4
77
1.1
133
102
2
5.8
2.2
11.8
84
1.7
159
165
3
5.3
2.6
25.5
91
2.5
38
60
Weather conditions in the experiment years varied considerably. The growing seasons in
1991, 1992, 1995 and 1996 were very dry, while in 1993 and 1994 they were characterized by
excessive humidity.
The experiments were designed to study the effect that four mulch materials (straw, low-
moor peat, bentonite clay and limestone powder) had on soil properties and crop yields.
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