Evaluation of Functioning of Calcic Chernozems Under Irrigation

Conditions in the Pre-Ural Steppe Zone of the Republic of

Bashkortostan (Russia)

Ruslan Suleymanov

1,2 a

, Larisa Belan

, Iren Tuktarova

Ilgiza Adelmurzina

1,3 d

and Azamat Suleymanov

1,2 e

Ufa State Petroleum Technological University, Ufa, Russia

Ufa Institute of Biology of the Ufa Federal Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Ufa, Russia

Bashkir State University, Ufa, Russia

Keywords: Calcic Chernozems, irrigation, water-physical and chemical properties, removal of nutrients.

Abstract: In the conditions of climate change, the issue of sustainable harvesting of various agricultural crops is acute.

One of the issues of solving this problem is the development of irrigation reclamation, but at the same time it

is necessary to maintain a balance between increasing yields and not allowing soil degradation. The paper

gives an assessment of the condition of the irrigated Calcic Chernozems of the Engalyshevsky inter-farm

irrigation reclamation system located in the valley of the Kaigalysh stream within the Chermasan-Ashkadar

plain agro-soil district of the Pre-Ural steppe zone of the Republic of Bashkortostan. The climate of the

territory is characterized as slightly arid. The water used for irrigation is of the bicarbonate-magnesium-

calcium type and is suitable for irrigation. During the application of irrigation reclamation (9 years), no

significant degradation processes have been observed. The content of soil organic matter is characterized as

average, the reaction of the medium is neutral, the soil profile is not saline. However, the removal of mobile

phosphorus and exchangeable potassium with the crop and irrigation waters is noted, which indicates the need

for periodic application of mineral fertilizers.

1 INTRODUCTION

Climate warming due to an increase in the share of

greenhouse gases in the atmosphere contributes to

changes in moisture regimes and an increase in the

number of droughts around the world, which

ultimately poses a threat to sustainable agricultural

food production. This is especially important in the

context of the constant growth of the world's

population (Leisner, 2020). In such changing socio-

climatic conditions, an important role falls on the

ecosystem functions of soils due to their ability to

provide numerous services, including carbon

sequestration and conservation and food supply

(Maha, 2020; Mangi, 2022; Yicheng, 2022).

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7754-0406

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3098-7881

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4731-1394

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4119-1467

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7974-4931

In terms of sustainable and stable performance of

ecosystem functions, the soils of floodplains and river

valleys have a special advantage, since it is possible,

first of all, to regulate their water regime. In case of

waterlogging, it is possible to carry out drainage

reclamation, in case of lack of moisture – irrigation

reclamation (Schomburg, 2018; Jun, 2022; Everard,

2022).

At the same time, various types of irrigation in

arid ecosystems can limit greenhouse gas emissions

into the atmosphere, for example, with subsurface

drip irrigation, gas emissions are limited due to

targeted access of the rhizosphere to water and

nitrogen fertilizers (Andrews, 2022), with pre-sowing

and docking irrigation, an increase in the

accumulation of soil organic carbon was noted as

222

Suleymanov, R., Belan, L., Tuktarova, I., Adelmurzina, I. and Suleymanov, A.

Evaluation of Functioning of Calcic Chernozems under Irrigation Conditions in the Pre-Ural Steppe Zone of the Republic of Bashkortostan (Russia).

DOI: 10.5220/0011568900003524

In Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Methods, Models, Technologies for Sustainable Development (MMTGE 2022) - Agroclimatic Projects and Carbon Neutrality, pages

222-226

ISBN: 978-989-758-608-8

 2023 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda. Under CC license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

against the background of organic fertilizers, and

without them (Zhenxing, 2022). However, with long-

term use of irrigation reclamation, it is also possible

to reduce the carbon and nitrogen content in the soil

profile (Gabbasova, 2006; Mudge, 2021).

With regard to the use of various reclamation

systems, taking into account natural and climatic

conditions, the Republic of Bashkortostan can be

divided into two parts, in the northern part drainage

reclamation is used mainly in the floodplain of rivers,

and in the southern part irrigation reclamation using

water resources of rivers, lakes and reservoirs

(Suleymanov, 2021).

The purpose of our research was to assess the state

of the soil cover and bioproductivity in the

functioning of the Engalyshevsky inter-farm

irrigation reclamation system (Fig. 1).

Figure 1: The location of the research area (Engalyshevsky

inter-farm irrigation reclamation system).

2 MATERIALS AND METHODS

The Engalyshevsky inter-farm irrigation reclamation

system is located in the Chishminsky district of the

Republic of Bashkortostan north of the village of

Engalyshevo. The irrigation method is sprinkling;

grain, vegetable and fodder crops are present in the

structure of the sown areas. The water source is a

pond on the Kaigalysh stream, the water is of the

bicarbonate-magnesium-calcium type, suitable for

irrigation. The duration of irrigation is 9 years (Fig.

1). According to the agro-soil zoning, the irrigation

system is located in the Pre-Ural steppe zone in the

Chermasan-Ashkadar plain agro-soil district. The

climate of the territory is slightly arid. The average

annual air temperature is 2.5 °С, the average annual

precipitation is 416 mm (Khaziev, 1995). The site

directly surveyed is located on a gentle slope of the

southern exposure. The soil-forming rocks are

eluvial-deluvial and deluvial carbonate clays.

The research was carried out by the route-field

method with the laying of full-profile soil sections and

the selection of soil samples. The soil cover is

represented by Calcic Chernozems (IUSS Working

Group WRB, 2015). The following indicators were

determined in the selected soil samples: the content of

soil organic carbon by Tyurin, mobile phosphorus and

exchangeable potassium by Machigin, alkaline

hydrolyzable nitrogen by Cornfield, absorbed Ca

and Mg

cations – trilonometrically, pH H

O –

potentiometrically, dry residue – by evaporation

(Arinushkina, 1970; Sokolov, 1975), volume density

– by drilling method, water permeability – by filling

cylinders with water (Shein, 2007).

Determination of the normalized difference

vegetation index (NDVI) and removal of mobile

phosphorus and exchangeable potassium from the

field was carried out using the online platform for

precision farming OneSoil (https://onesoil.ai/ru/) (fig.

2).

Figure 2: The value of the NDVI index (A) and the

productivity zone (B) on the irrigated plot of Calcic

Chernozems (performed using the online platform for

precision farming OneSoil (https://onesoil.ai/ru/).

3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Analysis of morphological properties of Calcic

Chernozems shows that the arable horizon (Aai) has

a finely lumpy structure, heavy loamy, crumbly,

volume density is 1.15 g cm

-3

, the transition to the

underlying АВca horizon can be determined only by

the color and structure, which becomes granular.

Below is the illuvial horizon In gray-brown color with

patches of organic matter from the overlying

horizons, the structure is already becoming nutty, the

volume density increases to 1.30 g cm

-3

(table 1). The

profile of the chernozem was formed by eluvial-

deluvial and deluvial carbonate structureless clay of

yellow-brown color (the horizon of the Cca). The

entire soil profile is impregnated with carbonates in

the form of mycelium and veins.

Among the physical properties of soils used for

irrigation, such an indicator as water permeability is

important. Determination of water balance is the main

Evaluation of Functioning of Calcic Chernozems under Irrigation Conditions in the Pre-Ural Steppe Zone of the Republic of Bashkortostan

(Russia)

223

criterion for sustainable cultivation of agricultural

crops, since it allows optimizing soil irrigation

schedules (Jun, 2022). Determination of the water

permeability of the arable horizon of Calcic

Chernozems showed that the average value is 152 mm

per hour, which meets the requirements for irrigated

soils (Shein, 2007).

The average content of soil organic matter in the

arable horizon is 41.8 g kg

–1

and further decreases

with depth in the soil profile to 8.2 g kg

–1

to the soil-

forming rock. The reaction of the medium in the upper

humus-accumulative horizons is neutral (pH H

O 6.9-

7.1) and gradually turns into alkaline with depth (pH

O 8.2). Calcium predominates among the absorbed

cations throughout the profile, it exceeds magnesium

by 3-5 times (Table 1).

One of the negative aspects of soil irrigation is the

threat of secondary salinization (Ruiqi, 2022;

Xiaomin, 2022). Analysis of the content of water-

soluble salts in the Calcic Chernozems profile will

change from 1.15 to 1.39 %, which indicates the

absence of salinization (Table 1).

Another factor determining the growth and

development of agricultural crops is the availability

of nutrients – nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in

an accessible form for plants. At the same time,

irrigation reclamation and cultivation of various crops

have a significant impact on the nutritional regime of

soils (Fengmei, 2022; Amir, 2022; Mohammed,

2022). The average content of alkaline hydrolyzable

nitrogen in the arable horizon of irrigated soil was

172.7, mobile phosphorus – 34.6 and exchangeable

potassium – 123.7 mg kg

–1

(Table 1).

Recently, methods of remote sensing of the Earth

and machine learning have become widely used to

assess the state of agricultural lands (Long, 2021;

Diaz-Gonzalez, 2022.; Mahjenabadi, 2022). These

data make it possible not only to determine and

predict crop yields using the vegetation index (NDVI)

(Roznik, 2022), but it is also possible to assess the

content and migration routes of mobile phosphorus

(Hezhen, 2016; Jinlong, 2019) and exchangeable

potassium (Yiming, 2017; Jing, 2020).

Analysis of the irrigated field using data from the

online platform for precision farming OneSoil

(https://onesoil.ai/ru/), showed that the maximum

NDVI values (0.7-0.8 as of July 19, 2021) were in

areas with the maximum amount of irrigation water

intake (in Figure 2A, these areas are highlighted in the

form of dark green circles), in the areas located to the

north, the NDVI values were slightly lower (0.4-0.5).

If we compare these NDVI values with productivity

zones calculated taking into account the values of

mobile phosphorus and exchangeable potassium in

the arable horizon (Figure 2B), it turns out that their

maximum removal falls on areas with higher NDVI

values and productivity. It should be noted that when

statistically calculating the average values of the

content of mobile phosphorus and exchangeable

potassium in the arable layer, their maximum and

minimum values differed twice. For phosphorus, they

were 24.3 and 48.4 mg kg

–1

, for potassium – 80.7 and

164.2 mg kg

–1

, respectively. At the same time, the

minimum values fell on the most irrigated areas with

high productivity, in the same areas there was an

accumulation of nutrients in the underlying ABca

horizon, which indicates their leaching from the

arable horizon. Also, part of the nutrients is spent on

the growth and development of crops.

4 CONCLUSIONS

Thus, the conducted studies have shown that the site

of the irrigation system located in the Pre-Ural steppe

Table 1: Water-physical and chemical properties of Calcic Chernozems.

Determination

Unit

Horizon, depth, c

Аai АВca Вca Сca

0-32 32-58 58-83 83-120

Н Н

О - 6.9±0.2 7.1±0.3 7.8±0.2 8.2±0.1

C org g kg

–1

41.8±2.3 16.2±4.4 6.9±1.7 2.8±1.1

Nitrogen, alkaline

drol

sable

mg kg

–1

172.7±20.2 80.9±13.8 35.6±7.4 25.2±6.6

Phos

horus, available

(

)

–1

34.6±9.8 29.7±9.8 15.0±2.6 8.3±3.5

Potassium, exchangeable

)

mg kg

–1

123.7±30.5 132.8±27.4 95.8±14.8 72.8±10.2

, exchan

eable cmol

(+)

–1

48.6±2.1 39.6±1.2 39.3±1.2 57.3±2.5

, exchangeable cmol

(+)

–1

14.9±0.9 14.3±0.6 13.3±0.6 12.7±2.1

Dry residue % 0.16±0.03 0.13±0.02 0.09±0.01 0.11±0.01

Bulk densit

g cm

-3

1.15±0.07 1.21±0.02 1.30±0.04 1.39±0.12

Water

ermeabilit

mm for 1 h

152±8 not determ. not determ. not determ.

MMTGE 2022 - I International Conference "Methods, models, technologies for sustainable development: agroclimatic projects and carbon

neutrality", Kadyrov Chechen State University Chechen Republic, Grozny, st. Sher

224

zone of the Republic of Bashkortostan is represented

by Calcic Chernozems. The use of this soil in

irrigation reclamation has not led to degradation of its

basic properties. This soil is characterized by

favorable morphological and water-physical

properties. The humus-accumulative horizon contains

about 42 g kg

–1

(average content) (Kiryushin, 1996)

of soil organic matter, the reaction of the medium is

neutral, calcium predominates among the absorbed

cations, the soil profile is not saline.

Analysis of the content of mobile phosphorus and

exchangeable potassium shows that part of them is

washed into the underlying horizons, and the other

part goes to feed crops, which indicates the need for

their regular application in the form of fertilizers. The

maximum removal of nutrients is observed in areas

with maximum irrigation water intake and biological

productivity.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The research was carried out with the support of a

grant from the Republic of Bashkortostan, the internal

code of the scientific topic is ENOC–GVU-01-22.

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neutrality", Kadyrov Chechen State University Chechen Republic, Grozny, st. Sher

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