Experimental Study of Two Fallow Field Treatment Influence Methods on Soil Moisture Dynamics

Abstract The yield of any crop depends on soil moisture. One of the moisture conservation technological methods is fallow in the form of soil mulch with a layer not exceeding a thickness of 5–6 cm. To create this, a harrow utilizing special working devices was designed. This paper presents the results obtained on the dynamics of changes in soil moisture in a fallow field treated with a new harrowing unit compared to a serial cultivator operating at a depth higher than 6 cm. It was observed that the soil moisture in the harrowed area of the fallow field was 1.4 times higher, while the moisture reserves were 2.2 times higher in contrast to the field with the agrotechnical environment, treated with the sweeps of a serial cultivator. The actual soil tillage depth uniformity reached with the new harrowing unit is higher in comparison to that of the basic cultivator unit because, according to the F-test, the dispersion of fluctuations in the field tillage depth by the former (0.64 cm2) is significantly less than that for the latter (3.24 cm2).