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
1b
, Iren Tuktarova
1c
,
Ilgiza Adelmurzina
1,3 d
and Azamat Suleymanov
1,2 e
1
Ufa State Petroleum Technological University, Ufa, Russia
2
Ufa Institute of Biology of the Ufa Federal Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Ufa, Russia
3
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).
a
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7754-0406
b
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3098-7881
c
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4731-1394
d
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4119-1467
e
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
Copyright
c
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
2+
and Mg
2+
cations trilonometrically, pH H
2
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
2
O 6.9-
7.1) and gradually turns into alkaline with depth (pH
H
2
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
m
Аai АВca Вca Сca
0-32 32-58 58-83 83-120
р
Н Н
2
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
h
y
drol
y
sable
mg kg
–1
172.7±20.2 80.9±13.8 35.6±7.4 25.2±6.6
Phos
p
horus, available
(
P
2
O
5
)
m
k
–1
34.6±9.8 29.7±9.8 15.0±2.6 8.3±3.5
Potassium, exchangeable
(K
2
O
)
mg kg
–1
123.7±30.5 132.8±27.4 95.8±14.8 72.8±10.2
Ca
2+
, exchan
g
eable cmol
(+)
k
g
–1
48.6±2.1 39.6±1.2 39.3±1.2 57.3±2.5
Mg
2+
, exchangeable cmol
(+)
kg
–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
y
g cm
-3
1.15±0.07 1.21±0.02 1.30±0.04 1.39±0.12
Water
p
ermeabilit
y
mm for 1 h
r
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
226