Economic feasibility of soil protective cultivation technology in the zone of not having enough moisture

The purpose of the study was to assess economic feasibility of applying soil-protective technology for growing winter wheat, spring barley, and sunflower. The paper presented empirical data on the influence of the technology on physical properties of the soil, plant productivity and production profitability. Soil protective technology with the preservation of post-harvest and plant residues on the soil surface affected the accumulation and preservation of moisture in the soil due to better retention and preservation of snow cover, reduced aeration and overheating of the soil. Sunflower plant residues accumulated more snow by soil protection technology - 26.4 cm, winter wheat stubble 6.9 cm less. The least snow according to generally accepted technology was after sunflower - 9.5 cm. In general, the soil protection technology contributed to a greater retention and preservation of snow by 16.5-27.7 %. When sowing spring crops, the addition density was close to equilibrium - 1.08 g/cm3, and according to the soil protection technology from 1.12 to 1.21 g/ cm3. By harvesting, the difference between the technologies in density became insignificant. The soil structure under the influence of soil protection technology had not undergone significant changes. According to the soil-protective technology, before sowing all crops, more moisture in the soil layer 0-20 cm was present, which enabled the seeds to germinate quickly and in a friendly manner, germination rate was from 85.1 to 88.6 %. All the crops increased crop yields when using soil protection technology. The greatest increase in the productivity when using soil protection technology was shown by spring barley with 0.73 t /hectare, winter wheat - 0.6 t/hectare, the smallest was given by sunflower - 0,11 t/hectare. The use of soil-protective technology made it possible to obtain 19.330 rubles/hectare of conditionally net income in the links of crop rotation. The profitability of spring barley increased by 47 %, winter wheat - by 33 %, and sunflower - by 27 %. On average, by soil protection technology, profitability in the links of crop rotation increased by 36 %.