Influence of Direct Seeding Technology and Forecrops on the Agrophysical and Agrochemical Properties of Dark Chestnut Soils and Winter Wheat Yield

The food security of Stavropol Krai depends on the annual stability of the crop yield. Winter wheat is the leading crop cultivated on the majority of farms. Growing technology, cover, crops variety, and other conditions affect its productivity. The choice of a soil treatment system is based on the crop requirements to the soil, weather, climate, and the changes caused by soil processing. The newly available no-till technology provides optimal air, water, nutrition, and heat regimes for cultivated crops, and increases the erosion resistance of soils. This research studies the influence of no-till technology and cover crops on soil fertility changes and productivity of winter wheat in the arid zone. These technologies are supposed to increase the main crop yields, slow down soil degradation, and restore soil fertility. We conducted an experiment on the territory of JSC “Agrohleboprodukt.” This enterprise does not till the soil but instead covers it with a layer of crop residue mulch. Mulching reduces moisture evaporation and helped accumulate additional moisture. Since the introduction of these technologies in 2014, the enterprise has abandoned soil steaming and expanded the range of cultivated crops. Studies have shown that the no-till method does not compact winter wheat; these values lie within the optimal (0–10 cm of the soil layer—1.14 g/cm³ in the mature stage). The presence of plant residue mulch ensures the accumulation of productive moisture in the soil (49.0 mm and 43.9 mm in the mature stage for chickpeas and sunflowers, respectively). However, the agrochemical properties of soils must be monitored more closely (mainly labile phosphorus and NO₃-nitrogen).