Feasibility of a direct sowing system on the Russian chernozems
An increase in yields and gross harvests of agricultural products has led to the fact that the Russian soils have lost their fertility and the best of them -chernozems - have suffered the most. Since the time of V.V. Dokuchaev, they have lost half their fertility. This process can be stopped by cultivating crops without tillage (direct sowing system, no-till technology); in this case, the soil is not cultivated for a long time and plant residues remain on its surface. This technology is highly effective on chernozem soils with good water, physical, chemical, and biological properties. Numerous studies conducted in long-term field experiments on chernozems of the Central Chernozem Zone, the North Caucasus, the Volga region, the Urals, Western and Eastern Siberia have established that when cultivating field crops using this technology, the soil does not compact, its structural and aggregate composition improves, water-resistance and diameter of soil aggregates increase, it accumulates more moisture from atmospheric precipitation and better retains it. Plant residues on the surface protect the soil from erosion serving as food for earthworms and microbiota and suppressing pathogenic microflora, which makes it possible to effectively fight plant diseases and pests using biological plant protection products. All this contributes to an increase in soil fertility, and under arid conditions, to an expansion of the range of cultivated crops, an increase in their yield and profitability of production, which indicates the possibility and need for wider application of direct sowing technology on Russian chernozem soils. Given the many factors affecting the efficiency of the direct sowing system, it is necessary to address the issues of its development within the framework of a comprehensive research program.