Abstract
The most remarkable thing about Chernozem is the production from unfertilized fields. In long-term trials on the Typical chernozem of the Bălţi Steppe , the mean yield of winter wheat at 4 t/ha is equivalent to the best achieved anywhere in Europe up until the 1960s, double the average in Russia over recent decades, and a very good yield on dryland anywhere. Even after more than a century of hard labour, this is still the best soil in the world. Crop yields increased along with the introduction of various systems of fertilization but have levelled off during the last 20–25 years. In crop rotation , sugar beet and winter wheat respond well to fertilizer , corn and sunflower hardly at all; and the more mineral fertilizer applied, the less the nutrient-use efficiency . The extra yields obtained, even from low rates of fertilizer, even from the most responsive crops, do not cover their cost. We need to find more effective ways to use mineral fertilizers—or find an alternative. Pursuers of greater crop yields have turned a blind eye to the decline in soil fertility . The 30-year average annual losses of soil organic carbon by mineralization of soil organic matter from Typical chernozem under continuous winter wheat and corn, were 0.38–0.42 t/ha, and under crop rotation 0.26–0.29 t/ha. Greater inputs of nutrients from mineral fertilizers do not recoup such losses and this will limit any future, sustainable intensification of agriculture. In a good, diverse crop rotation , even with optimal use of manure and fertilizers, the share of inherent soil fertility in yield formation remains very high: 83–89% for winter wheat, 64–85% for sugar beet , 85–96% for corn and 75–83% for sunflower. Where farmyard manure is applied, supplementary mineral fertilizers are ineffective, so cost and environmental impact can be cut by not using them. Compared with continuous monocropping and abbreviated crop rotations , diverse rotations increase nutrient-use and water-use efficiency . Integration of crops and livestock within a crop rotation that includes perennial legumes and grasses makes good use of forage crops and by-products from the main crops. In turn, livestock return farmyard manure to the field, compensating for the nutrients taken up by crops and the organic matter broken down by mineralization. Perennial legumes and grasses resist drought by drawing water from deep in the soil. The recharge of soil water over winter is greater under crop rotation than under monoculture , and much greater than black fallow —which should be eschewed because of its inefficient consumption of water and destruction on soil organic matter.
A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side:.
and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it.
And some fell on stony ground; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away,.
because it lacked moisture.
And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it.
And the other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundred fold.
Luke 8, 4–8.
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Boincean, B., Dent, D. (2019). Soil Fertility, Fertilization and Nutrient Cycling. In: Farming the Black Earth. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-22533-9_7
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