ENERGY-SAVING PREPARATION OF THE SOIL FORPLANTING HOPS

At present, the preparation of the soil for the hop plant with machines of traditional hop production technology is unrealistic, since there are no more hops and no one is producing them. In this regard, a progressive technology for growing hops and promising machines for them, including for energy-saving tillage for hops, have been proposed. As the main cultivation, two-strip soil cultivation was used for rows of hops with a combined subsoiler-drener developed at the Chuvash State Agrarian University. Moreover, loosening is carried out with the simultaneous introduction of liquefied litterless manure with a dose of 100-120 t / ha to the subsurface zone from 0.20 to 0.60 m. In the soil, liquefied litterless manure fills the drainage canal and the soil pores adjacent to the canal, activates the activity of microorganisms and soil biochemical processes. Row loosening with a combined machine allows to reduce the energy consumption of processing by 57% compared to continuous plowing with plantation plows and to exclude the operation of applying bedding manure with subsequent moldboard embedding. As a pre-planting soil preparation, cultivation with combined stubble cultivators of the KST-3,8 type and its analogues with the incorporation of crushed green manure (up to 75%), high-quality leveling and crumbling of the soil is proposed. Stirring and leveling of the field surface is provided by afrontal discs behind the last row of flat-cut tines, crumbling - by a ribbed roller. The maneuverability of such a cultivator in the cramped conditions of the hop is taken into account. Replacement of plowing operations with general purpose plows and subsequent leveling by a cultivator allows an additional 45-50% reduction in the energy intensity of pre-planting soil cultivation. The main energy source in the main tillage is the tractor BTZ-243k

Assessment of Acacia dealbata as green manure and weed control for maize crop

Acacia dealbata Link is one of the main invasive species in southwestern Europe and a resource with potential value for agriculture. Our objective was to assess the value of A. dealbata vegetative aerial biomass used as green manure and as a tool for weed control in maize crops through three sequential experiments. In 2017, an experiment was carried out with acacia green manure vs inorganic fertilization of pots sown with a field corn and a sweet corn hybrid with strong and weak nutrient demand, respectively. Nutrients were not released from acacia green manure at an appropriate timing, and maize suffered nutrient deficit. In 2018, a pot experiment was made outdoors incorporating acacia green manure at different times before maize sowing, and we found that a 4-month period was required for maximum nutrient release from acacia green manure. In 2019, an early and a late-field experiments were performed by incorporating acacia green manure 4 months before maize sowing. Physiological and agronomic data were recorded in maize, along with soil data, for all years, and weed data the last year. Altogether, most effects and interactions between genotype or environment and fertilization treatment were not significant, and some deficiencies caused by acacia green manure fertilization depend on genotype and environment. Incorporation of acacia green manure 4 months before maize sowing partially controlled weeds and replaced inorganic fertilization. However, deficiencies should be corrected with additional weed control practices and fertilization treatments, according to the nutrient demand of the crop and the soil environment.

Eco-friendly soil amendments improve growth, antioxidant activities, and root colonization in lingrain (Linum Usitatissimum L.) under drought conditions

This study’s primary purpose was to investigate the possible amelioration of limited irrigation conditions by mycorrhiza (AMF), vermicompost, and green manure for lingrain plants. This experiment was accomplished as a factorial based on the completely randomized design with three replications. The first factor was green manure (without green manure and with Trifolium pratense as green manure); the second factor consisted of Rhizophagus irregularis mycorrhiza, vermicompost, a combination of mycorrhiza and vermicompost and none of them, and also the third factor was irrigation regime (full irrigation and late-season water limitation). Green manure, vermicompost, and mycorrhiza single-use enhanced the plant’s underwater limitation conditions compared to the control. However, vermicompost and green manure or mycorrhiza developed a positive synergistic effect on most traits. Combining green manure with the dual fertilizer (mycorrhiza + vermicompost) resulted in the vermicompost and mycorrhiza synergistic effects, especially under limited irrigation. Consequently, the combination of green manure, mycorrhiza, and vermicompost experienced the highest amount of leaf relative water content, root colonization, leaf nitrogen, chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, carotenoids, antioxidant enzymes activity, grain yield, and oil yield, which would lead to more resistance of plants to limited irrigation conditions.

The Residual Effect of Pre-Rice Green Manuring on a Succeeding Wheat Crop (Triticum aestivum L.) in the Rice-Wheat Cropping System in Banke, Nepal

Rice-wheat is the most widely used cropping pattern in Nepal. This cereal-based cropping system is highly nutrient exhaustive and unsustainable from a soil management perspective. They contribute neither nitrogen nor biomass to the soil. The net effect is the export of nutrients from the soil. The unused period between wheat harvest and rice transplanting is the summer fallow, and the incorporation of green manure during this short period increases the yield of both crops and improves the soils chemical properties. Altogether, there were 9 treatments and 3 replications with the randomized complete block design (RCBD). Dhaincha, sun hemp, black gram, cowpea, mung bean, and rice bean were used as pre-rice green manure. No chemical fertilizers were used for the green manure, and in wheat, 150 : 50 : 50 NPK kg/ha was applied. Goat manure was applied at the rate of 10 t/ha. The main objective of the study is to ascertain the residual effect of pre-rice green manuring on the chemical properties of the soil and the yield attributes of the succeeding wheat crops. The chemical properties of the soil were analyzed before and after the harvesting of wheat, and the yield attributes parameters were analyzed. The result showed that the green manure-treated plots gave a significantly higher yield as compared to solely chemical fertilizers-treated plots. The maximum grain yield was obtained from black gram (5.870 t/ha). There was a 39.76% increase in the grain yield in the black gram-incorporated plots as compared to the only-chemical fertilizers-treated plots. There was a highly (<0.001) significant difference in the soil organic matter of the green manure-treated plots and the only-chemical fertilizers-treated plots. The sun hemp-incorporated plot increased the soil organic matter by 71% when compared to the only-chemical fertilizers-treated plot. There was no significant residual effect of pre-rice green manuring on the soil pH in a one-cropping season. However, there was a significantly higher residual effect of the green manure on the soil’s total nitrogen content in all green manure-treated plots. It was found to be the highest (0.087%) in pre-rice dhaincha. The overall results indicate that the incorporation of pre-rice green manuring improved the soil’s chemical properties and increased the grain yield of the succeeding wheat crops in a rice-wheat cropping system.

Germplasm Screening of Green Manure Rapeseed through the Effects of Short-Term Decomposition on Soil Nutrients and Microorganisms

The rapidly emerging fertilizer rapeseed used as green manure has wide applications for use. However, there have been few studies on its decomposition and effects on soil nutrients and microorganisms after its decay. In this study, 12 rapeseed lines to be screened were decomposed through a randomized block field design with two green-manure-specific varieties as the controls. The contents of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium from the plants, soil nutrients, and microbial changes after degradation were measured. There were substantial differences in the rates of decomposition and cumulative release of nutrients among the different lines after 30 days of rolling. The contents of phosphorus and potassium in the soil were 1.23–2.03 and 3.93–6.32 times those before decomposition, respectively. In addition, there was a significant difference in the relative content of soil microorganisms at the phylum level after the decomposition of different species of rapeseeds. Most of the top 20 bacterial groups significantly correlated with the characteristics of plant decomposition and soil nutrient content, including Proteobacteria, Actinomycetes, Armatimonadetes, Rokubacteria, and Planctomycetes. A principal component analysis showed that the soil microorganisms and nutrients are the leading factors that enable the evaluation of the decomposing characteristics of green manure rapeseed. Numbers 5 (purple leaf mustard) and 8 (Xiafang self-seeding) were more effective than two controls, which can be used as excellent types of germplasm to promote the breeding of green manure rapeseed.