The effect of cultivation technologies on weed infestation and productivity of peas

The current paper has presented the study results obtained in 2020–2023, in the stationary field trial of the FSBSI “KurskFARC”.   The purpose of the study was to identify and evaluate the impact of technologies with different levels of soil tillage minimization on weed infestation, the formation of yield structure elements and pea productivity in the conditions of the CBR.   There have been studied four pea cultivation technologies, such as traditional (plowing at 20–22 cm, main application of N15P40K40 + top dressing with N34); differentiated (chiseling by 20–22 cm + disking by 8–10 cm, main application N15P40K40 + top dressing with N34); minimal (discing up to 8 cm, main application N15P40K40 + top dressing with N34); direct sowing (no-tillage, main application N5P14K14 + pre-sowing N10P26K26 + top dressing with N34). There has been established the advantage of traditional technology in reducing weed infestation, and direct sowing in the formation of yield structure elements, indicators of grain quality and pea productivity. The traditional pea cultivation technology reduced the total number of weeds by 1.9–2.0 times and their dry weight by 1.2–1.8 times during the period critical for the growth and development of the crop, and by 2.1–2.5 and 1.3–2.0 times before harvesting. The highest indicators of plant density for harvesting, the mean number of grains per plant and unit area, and protein percentage in grain were identified with direct sowing, which made it possible to obtain the maximum pea productivity (2.31 t/ha) and protein yield with the harvest (460.6 kg/ha). The use of traditional, differentiated, and minimal technologies contributed to a reduction of plant density before harvesting by 5.4–9.3 %, the mean number of grains per 1 m2 by 4.2–22.6 % and per plant by 0.6–18. 6 %, protein percentage in grain by 0.25–0.90 %, which led to a productivity decrease by 4.3–10.8 %, protein yield per hectare by 5.3–12.6 %.