Conservation Agriculture as a System for Improving Soil Quality and Sustainability of Production Processes

Abstract

Agriculture in Azerbaijan is mainly characterized by small farms. The average size of the farm is only 1.5 hectares. About 83% of farmers own land plots, and they cultivate almost 55% of arable land. On the other hand, only 1.6% of farmers have operational land plots. The pace of development of environmental agriculture and the resulting economic gain in turns depend on the environment, which is influenced by economic, social, environmental and other factors. However, land is an inelastic factor of production. Therefore, conservation agriculture becomes a separate, albeit integrated body of general agricultural production due to its peculiarities of distribution of inelastic factors among competing crop production variants. The transfer of conventional tillage to zero can lead to a loss of total pore space, as evidenced by an increase in bulk density. Infiltration is generally higher, and runoff decreases with zero tillage with residue retention compared to conventional tillage and zero tillage with residue removal. The necessary yield growth, production stability, risk reduction and environmental sustainability can be achieved only with the help of management methods that lead to improved soil quality. This article presents the results of a study devoted to the study of possible changes in the physical properties of the soil.