Efficiency of sowing facilities in technologies for cultivating spring soft wheat in the steppe zone of the Omsk region

BACKGROUND: Currently, when purchasing equipment, agricultural enterprises are given the opportunity to choose from a large number of brands and models of sowing machines, both of domestic and foreign production, the choice between which is made difficult for farms by the lack of performance indicators obtained under identical conditions. AIM: Determination of the effectiveness of using various sowing units within the framework of four technologies for cultivating spring soft wheat in the steppe zone of the Omsk region. METHODS: The source of data in the study is the industrial field experiment conducted in the steppe zone of the Omsk region on the basis of the Novouralskoye scientific and production enterprise and economic accounting information. RESULTS: Research has shown that the minimal cost for sowing a unit of area is ensured by the SKP-2.1 seven-seeder units with the K-742M and the RSM 2400 tractors (at the level of 1389-1646 rubles/ha). The sowing unit consisting of the RSM 2400 tractor and the Amazone Condor seeding facility proved to be more than twice as expensive as the SKP-2.1 (+124...166% to the level of costs for sowing with the SKP-2.1 seeder unit). The intermediate position between the SKP-2.1 seven-seeder and the Amazone Condor units was occupied by the Salford sowing units with the K-742M, the RSM 2375 and the RSM 2400 tractors (+93...147% to the level of costs for sowing using the SKP-2.1). At the same time, more expensive sowing units are also more productive. Thus, the units that included the Salford sowed on the area by 1.1-1.26 times more per hour of shift time in average than the seven-seeder unit with the SKP-2.1, and for the Amazone Condor this figure was 1.6-1.72. The use of various options for completing units and the use of chemical agents in the experiment led to a more than sevenfold variation in the cost of sowing according to the options, from 1389 rubles/ha (when sowing with the SKP-2.1 seven-seeder sowing unit and the K-742M tractor without the use of chemical agents) to 9,795 rubles/ha (when using the Amazone Condor in a unit with the RSM 2400 tractor with a pre-sowing application of 90 kg/ha of ammophos over a field pre-treated with the Sprut-Extra herbicide at a rate of 2.5 l/ha). The integrated use of chemicals in the experiment gave an increase in yield compared to options without chemization, but the cost of their use in the experiment significantly reduced the economic efficiency of production of the final product. CONCLUSION: The practical significance of the study lies in obtaining the data that can be the basis for choosing a specific model of sowing facilities for the conditions of a particular farm.