How can soil fertility be improved? Learn what determines the fertility of the soil

Soil is a biological ecosystem on which any living organisms depend, their growth and vital activity. The future harvest determines its composition and characteristics.

Fertility is the ability to grow healthy plants, providing them with the necessary nutrition, oxygen and water. On good lands, quality fruits are ripening in considerable quantities. What determines the fertility of the soil?

Factors affecting the crop

• The natural structure of the soil, due to the specific climatic zone.
• The presence of groundwater and the depth of their occurrence.
• Level of land contamination.

This is not a complete list of what determines the fertility of the soil. There are also artificial factors. Rational management, agrotechnical processing, fertilization is all that the fertility of the soil for growing agricultural products depends on.

How to improve fertility

The best soil is considered to be chernozem. Its formation takes several hundred years, the destruction is possible in 3-5 years. With the passage of time, the humus is washed out, the soil structure is clogged, most of the microorganisms are killed, and the flow of oxygen and water to the plants is deteriorating. How can soil fertility be improved?

The restoration process depends on the structure of the soil. Before you improve the fertility of the soil, you need to know what it consists of. For example, peat, lime, ash, sawdust are applied to clay lands. They will make the soil more loose and permeable, suitable for agriculture.

For peat and chernozem soils, regular application of organic fertilizers (manure, compost, bird droppings) will be sufficient. In addition to nitrogen, they contain useful microorganisms that can increase fertility several times in a short time.

How can soil fertility be improved? First of all, you need to check its acid-base reaction. Taking into account the results of the analyzes, take further action. For acidic clay soils, it will be advisable to add hydrated lime, dolomite flour in the autumn for digging. On the contrary, the alkaline earth is acidified with gypsum.

If the arable layer is depleted as a result of long exploitation, then we need to give him a breather.

Vacations for the ground

The most fertile land needs periodic rest. You can not grow one culture in one place for several years. This leads to depletion of soils.

How can soil fertility and its structure be improved with a minimum of costs? For restoration, the soil is seeded with siderates, which will improve the structure and increase the nutrient content. These green fertilizers are an ecological organic substance that contributes to the accumulation of humus. According to the nitrogen content, the siderates are not inferior to manure. In addition, they improve the structure of the soil. And rapid growth makes them competitors to weeds. As green fertilizers, vetch, pea, lupine, sweet clover, clover are sown. And also mustard, rapeseed, radish oilseed.

Preservation of fertility

Natural processes are not unchanged. And the natural fertility of the soil as a result of use in agriculture dynamically changes, then rising, then falling. The latter indicator is highly undesirable, since it characterizes one of the main reasons for the decrease in the efficiency of growing products. How can soil fertility be improved?

Natural fertility is inherent in any soil, as it is part of a particular ecosystem under specific conditions. But for the cultivation of agricultural products it is not enough. In addition, as a result of improper use, its structure is often violated. Restoration of soil fertility is a necessary agrotechnical method in agriculture.

Consecutive artificial improvement of arable lands will allow to pay back expenses and to receive annual incomes from realization of a crop. The task of the farmer is not only to maintain, but also to preserve the fertility of soils.

Gray podzolic soils

On these lands, cultivate the most diverse crops grown in the forest-steppe: corn, winter and spring wheat, potatoes, flax, sugar beet , etc.

Dark gray forest soils are the closest to chernozems and have a greater degree of fertility than light gray soils. They are similar in agronomic properties to gray soils and require a special approach and fertilization. The creation of a powerful cultivated layer and the introduction of calcium to neutralize acidity is a common technique for all forest soils.

In light gray and gray lands, the humus layer is small and amounts to 15-25 cm. Under it lies an illuvial horizon of brown color. It is saturated with aluminum and iron, which is toxic to plants. Therefore, plowing should be shallow, and loosening of the illuvial horizon - by a non-waste method. In this case, the lower soils will not be brought to the surface, and fertility will not suffer. To deepen the arable layer, you can gradually (2 cm per year) plow the illuvial horizon with the simultaneous introduction of organic materials, mineral fertilizers and calcium compounds (lime, chalk, dolomite flour). Good results can be obtained with grass seeding.

In dark gray forest soils, the upper fertile layer reaches 40 cm. And the upper part of the illuvial layer is saturated with humus. Therefore, it is advisable to use deep plowing with the introduction of manure, mineral fertilizers and calcium in the form of gypsum and lime in a proportion of 1: 1.

Eroded Soils

Weak-, medium- and heavily washed soils require special attention of farmers. They have an illuvial horizon already involved in the upper arable layer. For such lands, rationally uncrushed deep loosening, liming, the introduction of increased doses of mineral and organic fertilizers, and grass-sowing.

On sites with eroded soils, measures that prevent further washing away of the soil are needed. These include: paddling terracing, processing across the slope, etc.

Chernozems of the forest-steppe

When growing crops on these lands the main thing is to preserve the conditions of soil fertility. It is necessary to use it in an environmentally sound manner, and use their potential competently. The treatment should be carried out during ripeness, with an annual alternation of deep plowing and shallow uncultivated loosening for different crops. This must be done to preserve the earthy-cloddy structure of chernozems and to exclude (reduce) losses of humus from mineralization. For example, in the case of soil-free planing of the soil for winter wheat, even without sufficient precipitation, it will take root well and give decent shoots. But for a high yield, deep dumping of plowing and simultaneous application of manure is required.

Preservation of fertility of chernozems

Calcium-containing fertilizers are not applied to such lands to neutralize acid or alkali, but to consolidate clay and humus, form a granular-lumpy structure, improve agrophysical properties, create a balanced soil solution, enhance microbiological soil activity and fertility in general.

The use of biohumus has a high effect on the yield of crops on gray forest soils and chernozems. Much attention should be paid to the use of chernozems and measures for the accumulation and conservation of soil moisture.

Meadowlands

They are highly fertile, saturated with humus, nutrients. Farmer land use can be carried out on meadow-chernozem, meadow and meadow-bog soils. They successfully grow demanding crops.

The main disadvantage of such lands is the proximity of groundwater, which often contain salts (mineralized). Therefore, the most important factor in increasing crop yields is regulation of the water regime.

Methods of regulating soil fertility

Depending on the biological characteristics of plants and the nature of land use, there are techniques that allow you to obtain high yields and do not deplete soil.

• Regulation of the nutritional regime - application of mineral fertilizers.
• Complex improvement of agrochemical, agrophysical, microbiological qualities - use of organic fertilizers and cultivation of grasses.
• Regulation of water and air balance - mechanical treatment.
• Monitoring of agrophysical and chemical properties - the use of compounds containing calcium for liming or gypsum land.

The use of any soils should ensure the reproduction of fertility needed for the planned amount of environmentally friendly, economically profitable products per unit area.