METHODS OF RESEARCH AND ASSESSMENT OF THE STATE OF THE AGROLANDSCAPES OF THE DRY-STEPPE ZONE OF THE VOLGOGRAD REGION
In the conditions of increasing techno-genesis and global climate change, there is a growing need to conduct research on the conservation of the natural complex, the ecologization of man's productive activity, and the identification of methods for balanced farming. Despite a certain study of the issue, a comprehensive system for assessing agro landscapes for the formation of ecologically balanced agrolandscapes has not yet been developed, and even more so given the zonal features. Methodological approaches and methods of research of agroforest landscapes in the drysteppe zone of the Volgograd region are described, where as a theoretical basis for research on the stability of the environment and the functioning of agrolandscapes were used a numbers of domestic works: Gostev A.V. and others [7], Zhuchenko A.A. [4], Kashtanov A.N. and others [6], Kiryushin V.I. [1], Masyutenko N.P. and others [2], Nikolaev V.A. [3], Pavlovskij E.S. and others [5]. The article gives definitions of basic concepts in landscape studies. To collect field scientific information, a network of landscape hospitals was used in the dry-steppe zone of chestnut soils in the Volgograd Region: land use by «Ust-Medveditskoye» and peasant farming (IP) Isayeva V.V., Serafimovichsky District, APC «Cherenskiy» of the Kletsky District. The results of studies on the assessment of the actual state of farms based on the technologies used and the method of land use are given. Thus, the yield of winter wheat in APC «Cherenskiy» by classical technology averaged 29,8 c/ha for 11 years, safflower - 9,4 c/ha, chick-pea - 10,3 c/ha. Whereas using the combined technology, the yield of winter wheat was 33,4 c/ha on average over 5 years, chick pea - 13,0 c/ha and sunflower 12,0 c/ha. In JSC «Ust-Medveditskoye», which since 2012 uses direct seeding technology, the yield of winter wheat has fallen from 3,62 t/ha to 1,79 t/ha, safflower for 7 years 1,48 t/ha. The volume of fertilizer application increased 2,4 times. Arable land with high phosphorus supply increased from 466 ha to 7,220 ha. The fuel consumption was reduced from 62 l/ha to 28 l/ha and the number of employees from 149 to 45 people. The negative side of direct seeding technology is the instability of the formation of the winter wedge due to the dryness of the soil in the sowing layer, with aridity in summer and early autumn, as was observed in 2013 and 2014. Thus, direct seeding has a number of technological and economic advantages, and therefore the right to its creative application in the conditions of the Volgograd region and other regions of the Lower Volga region, however, further research is needed. Assessment the state of agrolandscapes showed that the high balance and stability agroforestlandscape of the dry-steppe zone is achieved only with direct seeding technology, medium - with combined and low - with classical. In conclusion conclusions on the basis of the received observations are presented, where the significant influence of agrotechnologies on the formation of agrolandscapes is indicated.