Ridge method of sowing crops on drained lands

The research was carried out in 1991-1994 and in 2012-2019 in the conditions of the Tver region. The effectiveness of two variants of ridge band-broadcast method of sowing grain crops was studied. The soils of the experimental plot were soddy-podzolic, well cultivated, light loamy and loamy sand gleyic drained by closed drainage. It has been established, that in the conditions of the northwestern part of the Non-chernozem zone on drained lands, grain crops (winter rye, winter triticale, barley, oats, spelt) should be grown on ridges 40-80 mm high using an improved ridge band-broadcast method of sowing that ensures smoothing of the soil surface, creation of a compacted bed and good contact of seeds with the soil by pressing them. By ridge band-broadcast method of grain crop sowing, an average 10.3 % increase in field germination of seeds was noted for all crops, plant survival – by 5.8 %, viability of winter rye plants during wintering – by 12.5-19.0 %, enhancing photosynthetic activity of plants, improving the structure and increasing the yield – by 0.21-1.19 t / ha. The yield increase was obtained both due to an increase in the number of productive stems by 17.8 % (on average in crops), and due to a higher grain mass in the ear (panicle) – by 10.0 %. The most significant increase in the number of productive stems during ridge sowing was observed in spelt and winter triticale (by 26.0-83.1 %), in the number of grains – in oats and winter rye (by 4.7-17.9 %), in the weight of 1000 grains – in barley, in grain mass in an ear (panicle) – in oats (17.0-24.0 %) and winter rye (8.0-10.1 %). The advantage of the ridge band-broadcast method of sowing is due to optimizing the area of plant nutrition and improving the agrophysical conditions in the seed layer of the soil.