Cultivation of soybeans using strip-till technology in the Pre-­Caucasian region

The results of research on the use of the original Strip-­Till technology in cultivation of soybeans on the southern chernozem in the zone of unstable moisture in the southeastern part of the Stavropol Territory are presented, since the production of protein products is aimed at reducing production and energy costs. Moreover, the most promising option for this technology is the separate formation of treated soil strips in autumn and sowing seeds with a special seed drill in spring, in contrast to combined spring sowing. The originality of the approach in research on this technology, in contrast to the classically accepted Strip-­Till technology for row crops, lies in the preliminary use of disc soil tillage combined with post-stubble application of a systemic herbicide to create a soil-and-stubble mulch that serves as a protective barrier against soil moisture evaporation. According to the results of the conducted studies, a greater (by 10.1%) number of agronomically valuable aggregates of 10–0.25 mm, and a higher coefficient (by 0.9 units) of structurality were found during soil cultivation with a cultivator-­slitter compared to moldboard plowing. Corresponding to the smaller mean-weighted aggregate diameter under the Strip-­Till technology versus plowing (1.3 mm) during the spring growing season is a higher soil density (by 0.02 g/cm³) and, consequently, a higher capillary porosity (by 4%). With an increase in the volume (20.6%) of capillary pores along the cultivator row under the Strip-­Till technology during the spring growing season, the reserve of productive moisture also increased — by 6 mm compared with conventional tillage. Therefore, the value of the fractal geometry index D = 0.93 for the Strip-­Till technology is higher in comparison with conventional technology (D = 0.77). A significant increase in soybean yield was also noted — by 0.13 t/ha — with profitability of 163%, while production costs decreased by 4%.