Structural-aggregate condition and utilization of productive water reserve depending on the tillage method of podzolized chernozem in agrocenosis

The work established the features of formation of the structural-aggregate condition and determine the main patterns of the formation of spring productive water reserves and its consumption in a five-field crop rotation when cultivating winter wheat and spring cereal crops using different tillage methods (plowing, systematic surface tillage, No-till systems based on plowing and systematic surface tillage) of podzolized chernozem (black soil) in the conditions of the central part of the Forest-Steppe of Ukraine. Common research methods were applied: field, laboratory, mathematical, and comparative-computational. Analysis of the results showed that during surface treatment, water-resistant aggregates are enlarged into the most valuable fraction, which affects the more rational use of productive water reserves during the growth of crops in crop rotation. Under the No-till system (in years 2–3), there is an accumulation of productive moisture in the soil layer of 0–1 m by 8–12 mm more compared to conventional tillage, and relative to the water reserves in 2022, the water reserve in 2023 increased by +19.0 mm (after conventional tillage) and by +14.0 mm (under surface tillage). Under the no-till system, in June and July, the average productive water reserve for the years 2022–2023 was higher compared to conventional tillage by 5–10 mm and 7–10 mm, respectively, and compared to surface tillage by 10–12 mm and 18–21 mm, respectively. In 2023, the productive water reserve in July under the No-till system exceeded that under conventional tillage by 17 mm, and compared to surface tillage by 31 mm. This improvement in soil structure water resistance in June and July was due to the increase in the content of water-stable aggregates sized 3–0.5 mm.