The influence of the initial amelioration degree on the agrophysical indices of long-fallow sod-podzolic soils

Abstract

The influence of the initial degree of cultivation on the development of modern soil- forming processes in fallow agrosod-podzolic loamy soils of the Udmurt Republic was established by 2015-2017 studies. It has been shown that three-year weed infestation increased the soil structure, which was expressed in a sharp decrease in the silt fraction content (<0.25 mm) in the upper 0-30 cm layer, which was a result of the sod-forming process of soil formation. The initial amelioration level of postagenogenic soils had a significant effect on the soil structure. The structural coefficient in the 0-10 cm layer in variants with increased and higher cultivation levels exceeded an indicator of averagely cultivated soil (by 35.7 and 16.7%, respectively). It is established that weed infestation of arable land led to a decrease in soil density in the 0-10 cm layer at all levels of cultivation from 2.3 to 6.1%. Changes in the layers of 10-20 and 20-30 cm depended on the cultivation level: at the average level soil density increased by 10.1-14.2%, on the increased and high level it practically did not change. The productive moisture content in the 0-30 cm soil layer in the variants with fallow land exceeded arable analogues by 22.1 -46.7%. The state of cultivation contributed to an additional increase in the productive moisture content in fallow soils by 1.8-8.8%.