Tillage and its role in the formation of soil fertility

Tillage plays an important role in the formation of the main indicators of soil fertility. At the same time, the choice of its method and technique requires an individual approach, taking into account the crop response and the soil and climatic conditions of its cultivation. Research on the effect of various methods of primary soil cultivation for sunflower (plowing to a depth of 25–27 cm, disking to a depth of 10–12 cm, direct seeding) on its yield and soil fertility indicators (soil structure and its water resistance, soil density, available moisture reserve, mass of plant residues) was carried out by the Department of Agriculture and Plant Protection of the Voronezh State Agrarian University in 2022–2024 on typical clayey chernozem in the conditions of the Voronezh Region (CCR). It was found that sunflower cultivation using direct seeding technology under very dry conditions of the growing season (hydrothermal index = 0.5) ensures obtaining a significantly higher crop yield (an increase of 0.24 t/ha) due to the formation of a higher reserve of available moisture in the 0–30 cm soil layer (by 1.6 times) against the background of the concentration of the bulk of plant residues in the upper soil layer (exceeding the control of 3.9 t/ha). Under slightly dry and excessively moistened conditions, the advantage of direct seeding is the formation of a good structural state of the soil (structural index of 3.5 ... 4.5) and sunflower yield at the control level (2.48...2.75 t/ha).