Manifestation of Degradation Processes in Agricultural Landscapes of the Dry-Steppe Zone in Volgograd Oblast

Abstract

The intensification of agriculture in zones of insufficient moisture supply without proper scientific support causes degradation processes in soils that reduce the productivity of arable lands. It is important to research agrotechnological features of crop cultivation and identify the reasons behind the manifestation of soil degradation processes in the dry-steppe zone of Volgograd oblast to develop prevention measures and restore disturbed agricultural landscapes. This paper examines natural and anthropogenic factors that affect the development of degradation processes in agricultural landscapes. The natural factors include atmospheric precipitation, droughts, and dry winds that under certain conditions provoke the development of deflation and erosion. Climate is the primary factor that causes degradation processes in agricultural landscapes. Moisture conditions have been grouped based on annual precipitation amounts over a 64-year period: 13 years were classified as severely dry, 14 years as dry, 26 years as moderate, and 11 years as humid. The following anthropogenic factors have significant impacts on the degradation of soils and agricultural landscapes: agrotechnological crop cultivation techniques and technologies in general. On chestnut soils, the no-till technology has an advantage in terms of bioenergetic efficiency: its energy efficiency indices for spring wheat and barley amount to 3.36 and 4.65, respectively. Nonmoldboard cultivation has an advantage over other basic cultivation methods: its bioenergetic efficiency indices for spring wheat and barley are 1.81 and 3.41, respectively. Compared to nonmoldboard cultivation, the energy efficiency indices of moldboard and surface cultivation are lower by 35% for spring wheat and by 17% for barley. A comprehensive assessment of the impact by the anthropogenic factor on the degradation of soils and agricultural landscapes in the dry steppe-zone of chestnut soils showed that erosion and deflation processes are significantly more intense in areas where moldboard cultivation and the classic technology are used compared to the combined and no-till (direct seeding) technologies that increase the sustainability of agricultural landscapes from unstable to stable levels.