Transition to technological processes and technical systems of soil tillage integrated into natural resource management

The unsatisfactory condition of the majority of soil resources of the country is due to the use of agrotechnical methods and technical means of mechanical impact on soil horizons. Energy-consuming moldboard plowing with a soil layer turnover results in a vertical mixing of heterogeneous soil layers and their exposure to photochemical radiant energy of the sun. As a result, aerobic and anaerobic bacteria, microorganisms and mesofauna adapted to live in the soil at a certain depth die; natural processes of humus formation and accumulation are disturbed, soil fertility decreases, soil horizons are overconsolidated and destroyed. This technology results in unproductive losses of organic carbon up to 50%. In order to develop technological processes and technical systems of soil tillage, providing an integrated transition to the natural resource management of agricultural lands, the author analyzed trends in the development of soil tillage techniques, regularities of plant physiology, plant life and soil biocenoses. The studies have established that in-soil treatment with pulses of compressed air by means of pneumatic hydrodrills immersed in the soil provides optimal loosening, aeration and subsequent rational supply of agrochemical solutions into root-inhabited layers. At the same time, this operation stops the processes of degradation and erosion of agricultural lands and increases the humus content in root-inhabited soil layers. The developed method (Patent No. 2830861 of the Russian Federation) and the innovative design of a pneumatic hydrodrill provide conditions for the online scanning of a soil horizon for 10-15 s and express analysis of soil characteristics. Based on the results obtained, we can supply the necessary dose of appropriate reagents to the soil. Transition to the innovative principle of soil treatment reduces significantly the total specific energy inputs.