| Abstrakt: |
In recent years, in Bulgaria, it was working hard for creation of technologies for controlling and limiting soil water erosion. In addition to soil fertility and the content of organic matter, water erosion processes also affect the basic physical properties of the soil. The protection of agricultural land from the negative impact of erosion processes and the preservation of the physical properties and structure of the soil can be accomplished by the application of erosion control practices, including various erosion control methods and technologies. The present study examines and establishes the positive impact of such erosion control technology (advanced technology for minimum and unconventional tillage) applied in the maize for grain cultivation on slope lands, on some of the physical properties of soil - calcium chernozem. In the period 2017-2019, analyzes of the bulk density, the total porosity and the hardness of the soil were implemented, as well as some erosion indicators, in application of traditional (conventional) technologies and the advanced technology for minimum and unconventional tillage, proving its high soil protection effectiveness. In three-years experiment, we found that the application of advanced technology for minimum and unconventional tillage leads to a decrease in bulk density, increase the total porosity and reduces soil hardness. In the final phase, after harvesting, the bulk density in the variant grown with this technology is 1.26 kg/cm3 and the total porosity is 53.38%, while in the control variant grown along the slope, by conventional technology, these indicators are 1.36 kg/cm3 for bulk density and 49.69% for total porosity, respectively. When applying the erosion control technology for minimum and unconventional tillage, the surface water runoff is reduced to 4.75 times and the eroded soil to 17.15 times, compared to the control grown along the slope, and this effect is maintained throughout the all period of the study. Also, the maize grain yield, grown by this technology, is 16.07% (by 1005.0 kg/ha) higher than that of the control, on average for three years period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
