Soil biological activity in sugar beet crops depending on various combinations of agrotechnology elements

Soil biological activity in sugar beet crops was determined depending on various combinations of agrotechnology elements. Field research were conducted in two types of agrobiocenoses (grain-row crop rotation and fruit-changing crop rotation) under different fertilization systems (mineral, organic, organic-mineral). A comparison was made between the effects of two soil tillage methods for growing sugar beets (plowing to a depth of 30-35 cm with a «PLN-5-35» plow and a soil tillage loosening and separating machine «Dokuchaev» PRSM-5 to a depth of 12-15 cm without soil turnover) on soil biological activity (cellulose-decomposing capacity of the soil), root yield, and sugar harvest. The influence of different soil tillage methods for sugar beets under various fertilization systems in grain-row and crop rotation on the cellulose-decomposing capacity of the soil (in different soil layers over time), root yield, and sugar harvest was studied. Soil biological activity indicators after 60 days of cotton fabric exposure significantly depend on the sugar beet plant nutrition system and cotton fabric localization by soil layer depth. The maximum increase of soil microorganisms’ activity is observed with the mineral fertilizer system (2.3-2.7 times depending on the depth). On the 90th day of exposure high soil biological activity is provided by the organic fertilization system (an increase of 2.0-2.2 times compared to 1.1-1.5 times for other fertilization systems). On the 120th day of exposure under the mineral fertilization system soil biological activity increased by 1.6-1.7 times in the soil layers and by 1.4 times under the organic system. In grain-row crop rotation an increase in soil biological activity was noted with the «PRSM-5» stratifier. The maximum index value was observed under the organic-mineral fertilization system (76.2-86.5 % on the 120th day of exposure). In terms of the effect on sugar beet yield no significant differences in the effectiveness of the stratifier using under different fertilization systems and in different rotation types were identified. Key words: stratifier, fertilization systems, soil tillage, crop rotation, soil cellulose-decomposing soil capacity.