INFLUENCE OF TREATMENT OF PEAT-GLEY SOIL ON THE WATER AND THERMAL REGIME AND YIELD OF POTATOES UNDER THE NORTHERN TRANS-URALS CONDITIONS

The purpose of the study is to establish the influence of the depth of plowing of peaty-gley soil on the water and temperature regime, and potato yield. A study of the influence of the depth of cultivation of peaty-gley soil on the water-thermal regime and potato yield was carried out in 2014–2016 in the Tarmanskoye lowland swamp in the forest-steppe zone of the Northern Trans-Urals. As a result of the study, a decrease in moisture capacity in a 0.2-meter layer of peaty-gley soil was established by 17.2–34.7 %. This was facilitated by the enrichment of mineral soil during plowing to a depth of 0.27–0.37 m. At a depth of 0.2–0.4 m, moisture capacity increases by 5.5–13.4 % due to the organic matter of peat. Deep plowing (0.37 m) ensured an increase in moisture reserves in the 0.5 m layer from 0.6 HB at the control (0.22 m) to the upper limit of the optimum (0.9 HB). In the lower part of the soil profile (0.6–1.0 m), moisture reserves did not depend on the plowing depth. The maximum changes in soil temperature were established in plots with plowing of 0.15 m of mineral soil, where it increased on average by 0.6–0.7 °C over the years of study. The most significant differences in soil warming were noted in the first half of the growing season (1.1–1.2 °C). Potato yield on peaty-gley soil depends on the plowing depth: 0.22 m – 26.69 t; 0.27 m – 29.15 t (9.2 %); 0.32 m – 30.11 (12.8); 0.37 m – 32.45 t/ha (21.6 %). The starch content in potato tubers of the Nevsky variety increases compared to the control at a plowing depth of 0.37 m from 11.3 to 13.4 %.