Primary Soil Tillage in Rotations of the Main Field Crops in Moldova

Abstract

Research on primary soil tillage for the main field crops of Moldova has been conducted on Typical chernozem at the Research Institute of Field Crops in Balti, since the foundation of the institute. On the basis of earlier data, a long-term field experiment on methods, depth and frequency of primary soil tillage for crop rotations was initiated in 1977. Different methods, depth and frequency of primary soil tillage produced much the same proportion of water-resistant structural aggregates, soil porosity and spring stocks of productive moisture. Different effects of tillage by mouldboard plough, as opposed to ploughless tillage, are evident in the greater contents of mobile nitrogen and phosphorus and, especially, in biological indices of soil fertility. Annual losses of soil organic matter were 1.5 times higher under ploughing than for ploughless tillage.