DEVELOPMENT OF A TECHNOLOGICAL METHOD FOR GROWING PHYTOMELIORANT PLANTS FOR THE DEGRADED PASTURE RECLAMATION IN THE NORTHERN CASPIAN REGION

Purpose: to determine experimentally the optimal system of primary tillage for growing forage shrub plants for the heavily degraded arid pasture reclamation in southern Russia. Materials and methods. An experiment on growing phytomeliorants under arid climate conditions was conducted in the Chernoyarsk district in the northern part of the Astrakhan region in the light chestnut soil subzone in the period 2022–2025. The object of the study was forage semi-desert shrub and suffruticose plants of the goosefoot and legume families. The experiment included various shrub plant species and soil cultivation methods: moldboard plowing to a depth of 0.20–0.22 m (PLN-4-35 plow) and subsoiling to a depth of 0.30–0.35 m (SibIME stand). Control – vegetation of a heavily degraded natural pasture phytocenosis. The experiment was designed according to B. A. Dospekhov's methodology. Yield measurements were made using the All-Russian Research Institute of Fodder methods. Results. The research findings revealed the following: in arid climates on light-chestnut soils, reclamation of semi-desert pasture ecosystems requires the use of forage shrub plants, including those of the goosefoot family: Salsola, Camphorosma, Teresken, Chaste Tree, and legume family: Silver Chingil. These plants have higher nutritional value (0.804–0.873 energy feed units) and productivity (0.72–1.46 t/ha dry matter) compared to natural degraded pasture (0.494 energy feed units and 0.27 t/ha dry matter, respectively). Conclusions. The optimal soil cultivation method for growing shrubs is subsoiling tillage at a depth of 0.30–0.35 m using a “Siberian SibIME” chisel plow. This method produces 11–24 % more plant products than moldboard plowing with the PLN-4-35.