Cultivation of fodder beans at the Zarechny state farm during the development of virgin lands in Kazakhstan

Abstract

Abstract The article deals with the beginning of virgin lands development in Kazakhstan in the 1950s. In those years there was an acute shortage of fodder crops, as vast areas of land were given to grain crops. Since the traditions of legume and fodder crops cultivation were forgotten, the specialists of the Zarechny state farm had to apply new methods to solve fodder problems under difficult conditions. The authors came to the conclusion that during the experiments, the specialists of the state farm determined the best way of sowing forage beans by means of square-breeding sowing of a mixture of corn and beans. The chosen method solved the problem of fodder for cattle to a certain extent, affecting the productivity of the dairy herd and its weight gain.