The soil water balance and the development of spring soft wheat under various cultivation technologies

The steppe zone has always attracted people with its resources, despite the fact that it is a zone of risky agriculture. In this research we discovered that soil water balance under the spring soft wheat was negative most of the time of the vegetation period in the Rebrikhinsky district of the Altai Region, and soil moisture consumption during the observation period depends on the technology options and an average values was in the range from 100.9 mm to 131.9 mm. An average soil moisture consumption was 42.5% of spring moisture reserves. In the plots where autumn soil cultivation was not carried out, the average water consumption for the vegetation period was 41.7% of the spring moisture reserves, while in those plots where it was 43.2%, i.e., only 1.5% more. The absence of both autumn and spring tillage led to the consumption of 38.8% moisture from spring soil moisture reserves during the growing season. In the case when only spring tillage was carried out, this value was 44.7%, and if both cultivations were carried out - 43.2%. The difference in the sowing rates practically did not affect the total moisture consumption from the soil, it amounted to 42.2-42.8% of the spring moisture reserves. The maximum difference in water consumption was found when comparing the equipment used for spring tillage and sowing. So, when using Catros and DMC-9000, respectively, an average of 47.5% of spring moisture reserves was spent during the growing season, while using Russian-made equipment – KPE-3,8 or BDM-6*4 and SZP-3.6А, it was 38.9%. The moisture reserves in the meter soil layer decreased in direct proportion to the increase in average plant height.