The peculiarities of the irrigation regime under soybean and chickpea in the dry steppe zone of the Volga region

The aim of the work was to study the peculiarities of cultivation of a soybean cultivar Marina and a chickpea variety Krasnokutsky 36 in irrigated lands. Field experiments were carried out in the experimental farm of the Volga Scientific Research Institute of Hydraulic Engineering and Melioration and "Berezovskoye"-Ltd. in 2016-2018, where the main limiting factor in crops production is water. We studied irrigation rates and dates in recording experimental plots of 72 m2, in three replications, according to the common guidelines for determination of water balance in soil. Rates and terms of crops watering were appointed according to the developing weather conditions and the content of soil moisture. We presented the features of irrigation regime accounting on thresholds of pre-watering humidity of 70-80-70% NW for the soybean variety Marina and 36-60-7060% NW for chickpea variety Krasnokutsky 36. We determined the meanings of total water consumption for each crop: soybean - 3437 m3/ha, chickpea - 2573 m3/ha...