Uman NUH | today: 03/26/2024

The field crop rotations in Ukraine: should they be long- or short-term rotary?

Author(s) Eshchenko V.O., Doctor of Agricultural Sciences, Professor, Head of Department of General Agriculture, Uman National University of Horticulture, Ukraine
Category The Agronomy
year 2016 issue 89
pages 43-49 index UDK 631.582 : 631.153.3
DOI
Abstract The history of the development of crop rotations is described. It is shown that crop rotations date back to monocultures of mainly grain crops in the times of primitive farming. The two-three field fallow-grain crop rotations took the place of monocultures when passing from primitive to extensive systems of farming with extension of cultivated areas. When the perennial grass clover was included in the three-field crop rotation, it was changed into the four-field fallow-grain-grass crop rotation. In the early 19th century the Norfolk four-field crop rotation with such shift of crops as barley with clover-clover-winter wheat-fodder took the place of the fallow-grain crop rotation in Western Europe. At that time in Ukraine the seven-field fallow-grain-pasture crop rotation was practiced. The first half of the 20th century was the time of the implementation of the grass rotations and the second half was characterized by the development and implementation of the multiple-field crop rotations which provided high soil productivity and proved to be environmentally sound. Post-reform period in the rural area is characterized by the change-over to the short-term crop rotations in which structure of agriculture and shift of crops in most cases vary from scientifically-based standard. The implementation of such crop rotations is impossible without using chemical crop protection products.
Key words crop rotation, length of rotation, ecologization of farming.
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