Role of Year-Round Plant Cover and Agro-Technical Measures on Arable Land for Improvement of Some Water-Physical Parameters of the Eutric Fluvisol

Intermediate crops used for plant cover or green manure affect a positive direction of different soil indicators: organic matter content, soil structure, reduced bulk density and soil strength, limit the risk of erosion, eventually leading to a reduction in soil and moisture losses. The purpose of the present study was to establish the role of year-round cover of arable land with crops of cereals and forage crops and agro-technical measures to improve some waterphysical parameters of Alluvial-meadow soil (Fluvisol) in crop rotations. The study was carried out in the experimental field of Tsalapitsa, Plovdiv at the experimental base of “N. Pushkarov” Institute of Soil Science, Agrotechnology and Plant Protection, using the standard block method. In the next crop rotation - maize (Zea mays, L.) – barley (Hordeum vulgare, L) – maize (Zea mays, L.), were included intermediate crops (winter and spring) grown for green mass before the main spring crop maize (Zea mays, L.). From the obtained results, it was found that when in сrop rotations were included winter precultures the risk of negative influence of climatic factors on the physical characteristics of the Eutric Fluvisol is reduced. Despite leaving the stubble from the pre-sowing crop, after spring mixture crops, there is an increase in the values of bulk density and soil strength. These results are probably due to the poor condition of the soil that was plowed in the spring and insufficient time to carry out the sowing. The study confirms the role of soil cultivation in improving the studied physical parameters - moisture content, bulk density, and soil strength.