Agriculture of the Far East
In agricultural terms, the Far East is of greatest importance in the production of soybean, rice, potato, vegetables, and livestock products. The main areas of arable land are concentrated in Amur Oblast and Primorsky Krai.
Natural and Climatic Conditions
Climate
The climate of the Far East is distinctly monsoon. Winters are snow-poor, with mostly clear sunny days. The average January temperature is -16…-24 °C. Summers are warm; the average daily July temperature is 18…22 °C. The frost-free period lasts from 140 to 172 days, and the growing season (with temperatures above 5 °C) lasts 125–157 days. The sum of active temperatures during the growing season is 2150–2800 °C. Autumn frosts are possible from 14–29 September, while spring frosts end on 9–30 May.
Cold and strong winter winds from the land give way in summer to cool, moist air flows from the ocean.
Average annual precipitation ranges from 400 mm in the north of Magadan Oblast to 800–900 mm in mountainous areas. In the main agricultural regions, 500–700 mm falls, of which only 10% occurs in winter. In spring and the first half of summer, frequent droughts are possible; in the second half, there is abundant precipitation, often accompanied by heavy rainstorms.
Soils
The soils are represented by sod-podzolic, gleyed, and meadow-gley variants of heavy texture. In lowland plains, meadow-bog and bog soils are widespread; in the taiga-forest zone, peat-gley and light-brown forest low-humus soils occur. In the Zeya-Bureya Plain, meadow chernozem-like soils are widespread, with a humus layer 16–25 cm thick and a humus content in the arable layer of 6–10%. Acidity (pHsalt) is 4.8–5.2. In river valleys, fertile light alluvial soils are widespread; on watersheds and gently sloping areas, stony and gravelly soils occur.
In the south of the Far East, on the Ussuri-Khanka and Middle Amur plains along the footslopes of hills, brown forest soils are widespread, with humus content up to 2.5% and phosphorus up to 2.5 mg/100 g of soil, with an acidic reaction.
Most soils of the Far East are characterized by heavy texture, low content of organic matter and phosphorus, an acidic reaction, and weakly expressed structure. These properties cause poor water permeability, unsatisfactory water and nutrient regimes, the need for radical cultivation, and control of water erosion. More than half of the arable lands of the Far East are periodically subject to waterlogging.
Topography
The topography of the Far East is mainly plain-hilly, with accumulative depressions. Significant areas of arable land and natural forage lands are concentrated in the high part of the Zeya-Bureya Plain and on gentle slopes. The soils in this area formed under conditions of periodic waterlogging, water erosion, and its deposits.
Vegetation Cover
More than 80% of the land resources of the Far East are occupied by forest. Natural forage lands account for more than half of all agricultural lands. However, yields of natural vegetation are low due to insufficient or absent management. Cultivated vegetation is represented by crops of spring cereals, rice, soybean, potato, forage, and vegetable crops.
Tasks of the Farming System
Tasks of the farming system of the Far East:
- improving the structure of sown areas and the system of crop rotations;
- increasing the standard of farming and soil fertility;
- creating a deep cultivated arable layer with optimal water-physical and agrochemical properties;
- enriching the soil with organic matter and available elements of plant nutrition;
- reducing acidity;
- two-way regulation of the soil water regime (drainage, irrigation);
- combating spring moisture deficit and summer excess moisture;
- preventing water soil erosion;
- controlling weeds, pests, and pathogens of plant diseases;
- improving hayfields and pastures and increasing their productivity;
- introducing progressive intensive crop cultivation technologies.
Of decisive importance are the cultivation and increase of fertility of the arable layer through the systematic application of organic fertilizers, phosphorus fertilizers, and lime application.
Crop Rotation System
Depending on soil and climatic conditions, specialization, and sowing structure, field, forage, and special crop rotations with three to nine fields are used in the Far East: 4–6-field field rotations without perennial grasses, and 6–9-field rotations with crops of alfalfa, clover, and grass mixtures. The significant share of row crops in the structure of sown areas makes it possible to widely use fruit rotation (plodosmen) as the basis for crop alternation and intensification of farming.
Fruit-rotation crop rotations may include soybean, cereal crops, and leguminous grasses, primarily clover for one-year use. For example: 1 — clover, 2 — soybean, 3 — wheat, 4 — soybean, 5 — cereals with clover undersown. With longer use of perennial grasses, they are cultivated in a separate (output) field.
On soils with heavy texture prone to waterlogging and silting, grain-soybean rotations are introduced, including cereal crops, soybean, clover, and annual grasses. These crops, except soybean, complete their growing season before the period of abundant rains begins.
In Primorsky Krai, repeated (two- and three-year) crops of rice, potato, and corn are widespread in field and special crop rotations. The share of rice in the crops of the steppe and forest-steppe parts of the Khanka Lowland reaches 75%.
In soybean cultivation areas, it accounts for 25–40% of the arable area. Here, grain-fallow-row crop rotations or fruit-rotation rotations are used:
- 1 — bare or occupied fallow, 2 — wheat, 3 — soybean, 4 — wheat or grain-fodder crops, 5 — soybean;
- 1 — bare or occupied fallow, 2 — wheat, 3 — soybean, 4 — wheat or other cereals.
On light soils, grain-soybean rotations may include corn, potato, sugar beet, or other row crops:
- 1 — corn, 2 — wheat, 3 — soybean, 4 — spring cereals, 5 — soybean.
On farms specializing in rice, special rice crop rotations are introduced.
Near-farm crop rotations mainly include forage crops:
- 1 — corn for silage, 2 — potato, 3 — root crops;
- 1 — clover, 2 — corn, 3 — potato and root crops, 4 — silage crops, 5 — barley with clover undersown.
Vegetable crop rotations are selected taking into account zonal recommendations, specialization, and product needs.
Soil Tillage System
Taking into account the soil and climatic conditions of the Far East, periodic and in some cases repeated deep plowing with moldboard plows with skimmers to a depth of 25–27 cm and nonmoldboard loosening give positive results. The effectiveness is explained by the fact that the humus-accumulative layer of many soils of the Far East is no more than 16 cm, and the subarable layer is dense and poorly water-permeable.
The effectiveness of different-depth plowing under the conditions of the Far East has also been confirmed by scientific research. For soybean, it is carried out to a depth of 22–24 cm; for wheat, to 14–16 cm. Different-depth plowing also reduces weed infestation of crops.
A great effect is provided by deepening the arable layer, provided that organic and mineral fertilizers are applied in crop rotations. For example, deepening the arable layer from 16–18 cm to 25 cm over three rotations in a 9-field crop rotation against a background of 120 t of manure, 15.6 t of lime, and 469 kg of phosphorus led to an increase in crop yields during this time by 2–3 times.
For pre-sowing soil preparation for late crops, such as soybean or corn, different-depth multi-phase tillage is used. In addition to harrowing the fallow land, three-layer cultivation is carried out: the first to a depth of 12–14 cm, the second to 8–10 cm, and the third to 5–6 cm with rolling. Such treatment makes it possible to clean the field of weeds and improve the water and nutrient regimes of the seed layer.
To prevent the development of water erosion, plowing on slope lands is carried out after abundant rains cease, at an angle to the contours of 0.005–0.007. On long slopes, runoff water is intercepted by drainage furrows. After 3–4 years, the arable layer is deepened with plows with subsoilers or nonmoldboard shanks. To remove excess water from fields, mole drainage or soil slotting is carried out. On soils subject to wind erosion, flat-cutting, nonmoldboard tillage, or their alternation with plowing is used.
Pre-sowing tillage of erosion-prone soils is carried out especially carefully. Cultivation is performed crosswise, with the second pass necessarily across the slope.
Under conditions of waterlogging, ridge-bed technology of crop cultivation is highly effective.
Fertilizer System
As green manure, soybean and clover aftermath are used, plowing them in at the end of August — beginning of September.
The application of mineral fertilizers under the conditions of the Far East makes it possible to increase yields by 25–70%; cereals, potato, corn, vegetable crops, and perennial cereal grasses are especially responsive, and under favorable weather conditions, soybean as well.
The main fertilizer is applied for autumn fall tillage, during spring cultivation, or deep nonmoldboard loosening. During sowing, fertilizers are applied in rows; during crop care, as top dressing.
In fertilizer systems in Amur Oblast, the main fertilizer is applied under plowing or locally to a depth of 8–15 cm with grain-fertilizer seeders or combined machines designed by the ARRI of Soybean. For top dressing of cereals and perennial grasses, grain-fertilizer seeders are used; for row crops, cultivators.
Liming of acidic soils is one of the most important practices under the conditions of the Far East. Lime is applied in the summer-autumn period, after harvesting fallow-occupying and cereal crops, or before plowing in clover and soybean green manures.
To improve the phosphorus nutrient regime of acidic soils, phosphate rock is applied at a rate of 1–2 t/ha.
Plant Protection System
The Far East is characterized by a complex type of weed infestation; perennial weeds predominate, of which the most harmful are: sow thistles (Sonchus spp.), wormwoods (Artemisia spp.), and couch grass (Elytrigia repens).
In the plant protection system against pests and diseases in cereal crops, harrowing is carried out and treatments with rapidly degradable pesticides are applied in accordance with cultivation technology. Harrowing of crops is performed during mass regrowth of weeds, optimally during the period of full emergence of cultivated plants before their tillering.
In the Far East, the following are widespread: the oriental armyworm (Mythimna separata), the potato ladybird (Henosepilachna vigintioctomaculata), soybean pod borer, soybean nematode, white rot of soybean, Fusarium wilt of cereals and soybean, loose smut, potato late blight, and various rust species.
Main, pre-sowing, and inter-row tillage make it possible to reduce the incidence of diseases and pests in cultivated plants by 15–30%.
The chemical method of plant protection is used to control: the meadow moth, cereal leaf beetle, cereal flea beetle, ground squirrels, and pathogens such as loose smut, brown rust, helminthosporiosis, Fusarium wilt, and in some years stem rust.
List of Sources
- Bazdyrev G. I., Loshakov V. G., Puponin A. I. et al. (2000). Agriculture. Textbook for universities. Moscow: Kolos Publishing House.
