Expanded Reproduction of Chernozem Fertility in Biological Agriculture

The current stage of development of zonal farming systems in the Central Black Earth region involves the creation of balanced, highly productive, and sustainable agricultural landscapes, maximally adapted to the natural conditions of the region and ensuring the preservation and improvement of soil fertility. The solution to the problem of reproduction of soil fertility in traditional agriculture is associated with the use of a large number of energy-intensive resources and, first of all, irreplaceable ones. However, the level and direction of soil/biological processes are not sufficiently taken into account, whereas they to a certain extent ensure the reproduction of soil fertility. In this regard, the problem of the formation of the scientific foundations of the reproduction of soil fertility through the integrated use of methods of biologization of agriculture in the Central Black Earth Region and the activation on this basis of the soil/biological factor in the long-used chernozems acquires special importance. The purpose of the study is to review the changes in soil fertility indicators in conditions of biological agriculture. The paper presents the results of a study to determine changes in soil fertility indicators in typical chernozem of the Belgorod region (Russia) in a field experiment with various technologies of crop cultivation. The study demonstrates the regularities of the transformation of the fertility of chernozem. In terms of its fertilizing efficiency, compost in the applied norm turned out to be equivalent to a half dose of mineral fertilizers since both variants under consideration provided equivalent increases in the corn yield. The full dose of mineral fertilizers on the background of organic matter turned out to be excessive since its introduction did not contribute to a reliable increase in corn productivity.