IMPACT OF SOIL TILLAGE REDUCTION ON CULTIVATION PRODUCTIVITY OF WHEAT, BARLEY AND SOYBEAN.

Field experiments were done to evaluate the impact of soil tillage reduction on energy efficiency and labour productivity in cultivation of winter wheat, spring barley and soybean. Besides the conventional tillage (CT), in nonconventional tillage methods the following implements were used: RT1 - chisel plough, disc harrow, multi-tiller, seeddrill; RT2 - shallow chisel, seed-drill; NT - no-till seed-drill. As the efficiency indicators of different tillage methods, the following parameters were measured: work rate, energy requirement and yield. It was observed that tillage systems greatly differed regarding energy and labour requirements. Substitution of mouldboard plough with chisel in primary tillage provided a substantial specific energy efficiency improvement. Grain yields varied depending on soil tillage method and growing season. The differences in yield were not significant in winter wheat and soybean cultivation, while the yield of spring barley was significantly higher in RT2 and NT variants then in CT. Cereals such as winter wheat and spring barley responded well to the reduction of tillage, and no-till system might be the best option for these crops cultivation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]