APPLICATION OF ENERGY-EFFICIENT TECHNOLOGY OF SUNFLOWER CULTIVATION IN CHERNOZEM SOIL ZONE OF THE VOLGOGRAD REGION
In the current context of agricultural production it is necessary to determine the most effective ways to increase gross production of sunflower oil-seeds. It is possible through the improvement of cultivation techniques, and through the application of direct seeding in particular. The studies were conducted in the Kumylzhenskiy District of the Volgograd Region. Two cropping systems, conventional tillage and direct seeding, were compared. An early-ripe released variety R-453 (Rodnik) and Donskoy 1448 hybrid were studied. The observations have revealed that direct seeding promotes a gradual recovery of soil natural fertility through microbiological processes occurring in plant mulch. Crop residues retain soil moisture. On the contrary, moisture evaporates by plowing up. Sunflower yields in direct seeding system are less as compared to conventional tillage, but year after year the difference decreases. On the first year the difference made 15...18% in favor of the conventional tillage system, but on the second year of the research the yield difference made 10...12%. The improvement was caused by organic matter and moisture accumulation of on the soil surface.