Agrophysical properties of soil for winter barley cultivation in Transcarpathia of Ukraine

The article presents importance, objectives and results of different methods of basic tillage under different predecessors for its agrophysical properties for growing winter barley in Transcarpathia Ukraine. Soils of the experimental field are soddy podzolic gleyed, which contain on average 2.6% humus in the humus horizon. With depth, the amount of humus decreases gradually and at a depth of 100-130 cm it reaches another 1,0-1,7%. The soil is typical for the research area, on average provided with mobile forms of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Qualitative assessment of the surveyed soils showed that the soils require constant use of organic and mineral fertilizers, liming and crop rotation. Soil density is an important indicator of the physical properties of the soil, which affects not only on soil conditions, but also on its quality of cultivation, which ultimately effects on the yield and quality of the crop. During the sowing period of winter barley, the most favorable indicators of the bulk density of 0-10 cm of the soil layer were provided by all main tillage systems. The average soil density in the variants of the main cultivation ranged from 1.09 to 1.17 g/cm3, at HIP0,5 0.01 g/cm3. At a depth of 10-20 cm, the average volumetric mass of the soil during plowing was 1.14 g/cm3, during chisel cultivation it was without significant differences – 1.15 g/cm3. Conducting shallow tillage by 12-14 cm and surface by 6-8 cm was accompanied by an increase in bulk density to 1.16 and .1.19 g/cm3, respectively. Situation was similar in the soil layer 20-30 cm: for shallow tillage the average density was at the level of 1,24 g/cm3, and for surface - 1.25 g/cm3. Predecessors didn't significantly effect on the change in the density of the tillage layer of the soil. However, after maize for grain and sunflower, there is a tendency to increase the bulk density of the soil after shelfless shallow and surface tillage, especially in the lower layers of the soil. This soil density was at the level of 1.24-1.26 g/cm3, which didn’t exceed the optimum. Loosened in the process of mechanical tillage of the soil during the growing season under the influence of its own weight, moisture and drying self-compacts to equilibrium density. Therefore, during the period of earing and harvesting of winter barley, the soil was gradually compacted to natural values. In the 0-10 cm layer of soil the bulk density varied in the range of 1.20-1.27 g/cm3, in the soil layer 10-20 cm – 1.25-1.30 g/cm3 and 20-30 cm – 1.34-1.37 g/cm3. Density (porosity) is important for the effective activity of microorganisms, growth and development of the root system of plants and accumulation of moisture in the soil. It was found that long-term use of shelf and shelf-free tillage didn’t reduce the overall density below 50% of the structure of the treated layer, which ensured high productivity of cultivated plants. With shelf-free surface and shallow tillage, the total slit in the lower layers was up to 50% of the structure of the cultivation layer, and in some cases less than 47%. This structure of the cultivation layer negatively affected on the water and air regimes of the soil, the growth and development of the root system and, ultimately, the yield of winter barley. The highest yield of winter barley was obtained after buckwheat, winter rape and soybeans (6.0-6.3 t/ha) for selfless chisel tillage by 20-22 cm. After corn for grain and sunflower, the yield was 5.1-5.7 t/ha.