RESULTS OF RESEARCH OF SOIL COMPACTNESS

Abstract

The problem of soil compaction is as follows: compacted soils are harder and more difficult to cultivate; compaction limits the management of groundwater, trapping water near the field surface, reducing water penetration into the lower soil layers, while limiting the ability of plants to raise moisture and nutrients from the lower soil layers; the overcompacted soil zone does not allow for the effective use of fertilizers and pesticides, and if they are not absorbed by the soil, they can be easily washed away, which leads to environmental pollution and reduced crop yields; in compacted soils, the rate of air exchange and nitrogen mineralization decreases. A threat to the crop is plow sole, which is a man-made problem. This is a compacted layer of soil in the arable layer, which arises as a result of the pressure of the working bodies of soil-tillage units at the same depth of cultivation. In this case, the soil structure is destroyed, the number of dust-like particles increases, which subsequently sink into the arable layer and the soil profile becomes denser, soil pores are clogged, a waterproof layer is formed, which is called the plow sole. The article presents the results of a practical study of soil compactness on the lands of the limited liability company “Corporation “Kolos-VS” with a DICKEY-john manual penetrometer, which provides measurement of soil compactness in pounds per square inch on the dial of a manometer with two scales (for two different conical tips). To convert the readings of the penetrometer manometer from PSI units (pounds per square inch) to metric units (kg per square centimeter), we proposed an analytical dependence and built a corresponding nomogram. The research was conducted on thirteen fields of the limited liability company “Corporation “Kolos-VS”. In each field, the number of measurement points on the main area of the field and on their turning strips was determined, the average depth of critical soil compaction, its standard deviation and coefficient of variation, the range of change in the depth of critical soil compaction. At the same time, the average value of critical soil compaction, its standard deviation, coefficient of variation and the range of change in critical soil density were determined. For each studied field, conclusions were drawn and proposals were made to the limited liability company “Corporation “Kolos-VS” regarding soil decompression by deep loosening.