The system of crop rotations, a set of adopted crop rotations in an agricultural enterprise, is the basis of modern farming systems.
The process of implementation of crop rotations can be divided into three stages:
- design;
- implementation;
- maintenance.
- Scientific basis of crop rotations
- Classification of crop rotations
- Building a crop rotation
- Field crop rotations
- Forage crop rotations
- Special crop rotation
- Crop rotations in small (private) farms
- Design, implementation and maintenance of crop rotations (Русский Español)
Navigation
- Scientific basis of crop rotations
- Classification of crop rotations
- Building a crop rotation
- Field crop rotations
- Forage crop rotations
- Special crop rotation
- Crop rotations in small (private) farms
- Design, implementation and maintenance of crop rotations (Русский Español)
Designing a system of crop rotations
Designing of crop rotation system – development of project documentation of crop rotation system and its agro-economic assessment. Designing of crop rotations is an integral part of the project of on-farm land management which is developed by design organizations on land management.
The system of crop rotations must:
- meet the objectives of specialization of the agribusiness for the production of the main types of agricultural products;
- ensure optimal and perspective structure of sown areas;
- take into account local climatic and soil-hydrological conditions, relief peculiarities and economic objects.
According to the basic principle of the adaptability of farming the system of crop rotations as a whole and its constituent crop rotations, cultivated crops and the order of their alternation must meet the specific soil-climatic, organizational-economic and economic conditions.
When designing a system of crop rotations adhere to the principles:
- differentiation by agrolandscape elements, land types and signs of spatial isolation;
- optimization of the number of crop rotations, areas under them and the size of fields;
- manufacturability;
- transformability;
- relationship to the level of intensification of production;
- economic efficiency;
- compliance with the requirements of specialization.
Preparatory period of design
In order to develop a project of on-farm land management, the project organization shall provide information:
- the basis for the design;
- prospective indicators on specialization;
- interfarm relations;
- organizational and management structure of production;
- list of settlements;
- placement of livestock facilities;
- areas of agricultural land with allocation of arable land and perennial plantations;
- areas converted to arable land and other types of agricultural land;
- areas designated for irrigation and drainage as well as for radical improvement;
- the structure of sown areas by crops;
- average yields of crops and natural forage lands over a number of years;
- the number of livestock for each type of animal and its average productivity;
- volume of gross livestock and crop production, including marketable and for on-farm use;
- measures on soil erosion protection and water and air pollution control.
Preparatory work is carried out for the drafting of the project:
- study and systematize planning and cartographic, land-accounting, survey, land-evaluation and design materials, information on the existing state and prospective plans for the development of agribusiness;
- survey the lands of the agricultural enterprise, collect and develop proposals for their future use, for example, identify areas of land subject to reclamation, radical or surface improvement and suitable for conversion to arable and other land; identify areas suitable for laying orchards, vineyards and berries;
- determine areas of soil at risk of erosion;
- determine the dynamics of erosion processes and the degree of soil erosion;
- examine, if any, hydraulic soil-protective structures and forest-protective plantations;
- examine the on-farm road network, production points of the farm, field camps, summer camps for cattle, and determine the expediency of their operation;
- identify sources of water supply for irrigation and on-farm needs and their condition;
- draw up schemes of crops location for the last two years.
According to the results of the surveys, they carry out the clarification of the list of land plots. Data of surveys are recorded in field journals, acts and drawings.
During designing a system of crop rotations special attention is paid to a detailed study of arable lands. For this purpose soil maps, agrochemical and erosion cartograms, information on history of land plots, their location, relief and remoteness from production facilities, roads, crop yields for last 3-5 years are used.
Designing
The project of crop rotation system consists of graphic and text parts.
Graphic part of the project is a map of land use of the enterprise, including soil, agrochemical, erosion maps and other graphic materials.
Textual part – explanatory note with the actual analysis of the state of production and land, justification of the project, including agro-economic and other calculations.
Crop rotations are placed on the main land masses – arable land, which is the most valuable and productive part of land use of agricultural enterprise, which is in close connection with other elements of the agricultural landscape.
The project includes measures to improve the use of land and a plan for the development of production, such as the construction or placement of production facilities, roads, organization of crop rotation and forage land, measures to protect water bodies, land and air from pollution, and a project implementation plan. The project determines the annual volume of works, the need for seed material, fertilizers and agrochemicals, the need for agromelioration works and equipment.
The structure of sown areas is determined on the basis of objectives of the perspective plan of production development or business plan and satisfaction of on-farm needs for fodder, seeds, etc. Designing the structure of sown areas is based on the comparison of quantitative indicators expressed in monetary terms, in fodder or protein units, etc., produced per 1 hectare of arable land. Costs of labor and means of production in this case should seek to minimize.
According to the principle of adaptability of construction of crop rotations, all crops included in the structure of sown areas must be zoned according to local soil and climatic conditions and adopted agronomic techniques.
On the basis of the developed structure of sowing areas the number of crop rotations, their area, composition, proportion and schemes of alternation of crops, taking into account the results of the study of soils of arable lands is determined.
To determine the optimal number, type and species of crop rotations different options of the systems are compared, evaluating them by:
- the volume of crop production per 1 hectare of arable land;
- volume of forage production in general and by type;
- fodder production volume per hectare;
- productivity of agricultural machinery volume of intrafarm transportation;
- availability of human resources and the degree of mechanization of production;
- remoteness from settlements and production facilities.
During the design of crop rotations their efficiency is estimated first of all at the level of separate crops, and then at the level of different variants of sown areas structure in order to determine the optimal combination of cultivated crops in economical and agronomic respect.
Economically it is more expedient to place crops in large arrays, which allows to use agricultural machinery more effectively and narrow down the specialization of production.
Fields of crop rotations must represent a single homogeneous array with a regular configuration, preferably rectangular in shape.
Agroforestry and reclamation measures are planned taking into account the existing system of protective forest plantations, for which the creation of new or reconstruction of existing plantations of different purposes – field protection, water regulation, windbreak forest strips around production facilities, field camps or water sources are provided. If necessary, it is planned to plant gullies with forests, steep eroded slopes, fixing of sands.
The project envisages agromeliorative measures on flow regulation and fixation of growing ravines by hydro-technical constructions.
At the stage of design, lands subject to protection with determination of measures for pollution prevention shall be distinguished. In large livestock complexes, treatment facilities and irrigation fields are provided.
The final stage of crop rotation system design is development of project implementation plan, which determines terms and sequence of measures, volume and cost of works, criteria for quality assessment of performance, degree of participation of contractors and the enterprise itself.
Implementation of a system of crop rotations
At the stage of implementation of crop rotation system the project is coordinated with all parties, supervising and administrative state bodies with its subsequent implementation, which is carried out by the organization-developer of the project or the customer, depending on the agreement of the parties.
Implementation of the agreed project begins with land surveying works – delineation of crop rotation fields in situ. Land surveyors together with specialists of the agricultural enterprise specify borders of production facilities and household plots, crop rotations and fields, borders of farmlands, hay-and-pasture and herd (flock) plots, as well as roads and cattle passes.
In the process of project implementation there may be some discrepancies from the planned sizes of the areas caused by the specifics of land use. However, this should not affect the implementation of the intended production plan. Deviation of the areas of fields should not exceed 5-15%.
Upon completion of land management works crop rotations are considered to be introduced.
Maintenance of crop rotations
Maintenance of crop rotations is the period during which the project of introducing a system of crop rotations is implemented.
The replacement of any crop in the existing crop rotation, provided the basic principle of rotation is maintained, which does not reduce the fertility of the soil, is not a violation of crop rotations. Examples are the death of winter crops and their temporary replacement by spring cereals or the death of clover and its replacement by a vetch-oat mixture.
When maintenance of crop rotations it is necessary to:
- eliminate mottled fields in the fields of the crop rotation;
- place crops within the established boundaries of fields;
- use lands included in the crop rotation fields, such as pastures or fallow land, for sowing or pure fallow;
- to follow the established order of crop rotation;
- ensure a high level of agricultural technique;
- apply the amount of organic and mineral fertilizers determined by the fertilizer system.
As a rule, it takes 3-4 years to master field and forage (on-farm) crop rotations, special and forage (hay and pasture) ones – somewhat longer.
Plan for transition to crop rotation
In the case of transition to a new crop rotation within the framework of development, make a plan in the form of a transition table, in which the scheme of alternation of crops by years of implementation, while maintaining the structure of cultivated areas.
In the transition period should maintain the planned level of crop yields and provide the gross yields provided by the structure of cultivated areas.
To draw up a transition plan use the map of predecessors, which indicates the placement of crops on the fields for the previous two years. Also, determine the condition of each field, its degree of weed infestation, used fertilizers, tillage methods and other agricultural practices.
The plan of transition to crop rotation establishes the order of alternation of crops in each field until the end of the term of implementation of crop rotation, and for each crop a system of agronomic measures, taking into account the previous crops, weediness of fields, the need for meliorative works, etc., is developed.
If in the year of transition a new crop has to be placed on a poor predecessor, organic and mineral fertilizers are additionally applied under it. In the first years of development of crop rotations it is necessary to strive to have one crop or several crops similar in cultivation methods on one field.
When planning the development of a new crop rotation, the aim is to complete the transition as quickly as possible.
The following procedure is used to develop transition tables:
- Determine the plan and order of development of new land to be included in the crop rotation, with lands with less economic value selected for plowing first.
- Refine the crops sown in the previous year, i.e. winter and perennial grasses.
- The most valuable crops are placed on the best predecessors.
- Less demanding crops taking into account their commodity value are placed on the rest of the predecessors. Spring crops are placed in descending order of their value.
- For bare and seeded fallows, the most littered fields with the worst predecessors are allocated.
- Fields separated by several predecessors are desirable to unite.
- In rotations with perennial grasses, determine the place for their seeding.In the southern regions of Russia perennial grasses are undersown under spring cereals; in the Non-Black Soil Zone – more often under winter crops on less heavy soils, on heavier soils – under barley, oats, spring wheat, and annual grasses.
- If there are combined fields, crops closest in biology and growing technology are placed in them, for example, early spring crops with early spring crops, winter cereals with winter crops, row crops with row crops, etc.
The plan of transition to a new crop rotation should be made in such a way that each crop in the first year of transition is placed on good predecessors.
Deviations in the transition plan are acceptable, if it does not lead to a significant change in the structure of cultivated areas. For example, in arid areas after non fallow predecessors in dry autumn conditions winter crops will not give normal sprouts, so the field can be left for sowing of spring wheat, barley and, conversely, in favorable years you can expand winter crops at the expense of spring crops. As a result, grain yield will be higher from the crop rotation area, and objective changes in crop rotation cannot be attributed to violation.
Transition plans are made for each crop rotation to be introduced, accompanied by explanations of those deviations from the basic scheme of alternation, which may be in the transition period. Twice a year, in the spring after spring crops are sown and in the fall before winter crops are sown, the correct placement of crops is clarified based on the established plan and the transition table.
Example. A 3-year plan of development of crop rotation with the scheme: 1 – fallow clover, 2 – winter cereals, 3 – spring wheat, 4 – annual grasses (vetch + oats), 5 – winter crops, 6 – barley with undersowing of clover.
Table. Crop rotation implementation plan
Peas | 98 | Winter crops | 98 | ||||||||
Annual grasses | 30 | ||||||||||
Oats | 69 | Peas | 69 | ||||||||
Winter crops | 100 | ||||||||||
Winter rye | 20 | Peas | 20 | ||||||||
Vegetable | 21 | ||||||||||
To confirm the correctness of the transition plan make a table of sown areas under crops by year.
Table. Change in the years of transition of the area under crops and used arable land, ha
| Winter crops | |||||
| Spring cereals | |||||
| Annual grasses | |||||
| Clover fallow | |||||
| Peas | |||||
| Fallow | |||||
| Total arable land | |||||
| Total seeds | |||||
Plans for transition to on-farm crop rotations are similar to plans for transition to field crop rotations. Plans for transition to hay and pasture and soil-protective crop rotations require a longer period.
Evaluating the effectiveness of crop rotations
Evaluating the effectiveness of individual crops
The following indicators are used to assess individual crops in a crop rotation:
- yield of the main and by-products (t/ha);
- quality of products, their food, fodder or technical value;
- the amount of crop residues (t/ha) and their nutrient content (kg/ha);
- economic and energy output per hectare in rubles and energy units;
- labor costs per hectare and production unit in man-hours, material and monetary costs in rubles and energy in Joules per 1 hectare and 100 kg of production;
- net income per hectare and per ruble costs in rubles;
- profitability, %.
The basic indicator of evaluation of agricultural crops and crop rotations is yield. For correct comparison it is advisable to determine the net yield, i.e. the yield collected from the fields minus the seeding rate.
To assess the economic efficiency of fallow fields, the costs and yields of the main and by-products in different links of crop rotations are compared.
The efficiency of fodder production is determined by the yield of fodder units, protein and fodder-protein units from 1 hectare. The evaluation is made both for groups of fodder crops – grain forage, silage, succulent, coarse, and for types of forage plants included in the group, selecting the most favorable ones. Preference is given to crops with the most advantageous combination of fodder quality and cost.
Some crops, for example, flax, tobacco, sunflower, cannot be evaluated in fodder units, so they are evaluated by market value of production per unit of arable area.
When evaluating individual crops, their impact on physical properties of soil, primarily structure and water regime, soil-protecting and phytosanitary capacity is taken into account. The amount of leftover crop residues is determined by the yield of the main product using coefficients and the content of nutrients according to the reference data.
Evaluating the effectiveness of crop rotations
The indicator for assessing the effectiveness of crop rotations is the yield of production from 1 hectare of arable land, expressed in comparable values, for example, in grain, fodder and fodder-protein, energy units or in rubles, taking into account the qualitative indicators.
Fodder unit is the fodder value of 1 kg of oats. To translate the productivity of various crops into feed units, the feed production reference books are used.
For a comprehensive assessment of the effectiveness of crop rotations, the following indicators are used:
- yield of main products per 1 hectare of area in fodder, fodder-protein or grain units;
- average cost of gross output in rubles, labor costs man-hours and means per unit of main products and per unit of sowing area, net income in rubles per 1 ha, profitability (%);
- sustainability of production of the main products by the coefficient of variation;
- soil-improving role of crop rotation, which is estimated by the dynamics of changes in the balance of organic matter, physical, chemical properties of soil, the amount of crop residues and the content of nutrients in them;
- soil-protective efficiency of crop rotations, which is evaluated by increasing erosion resistance and reducing the intensity of erosion processes;
- phytosanitary efficiency, which is estimated by changing the degree of weed infestation of crops, diseases and pests.
To determine the gross productivity of the crop rotation we sum up the main and by-products of all crops, expressed in comparable values. The obtained sum is divided by the area of all fields of the crop rotation and the yield of production per 1 hectare is determined.
By comparing crop rotations with different structures of sown areas, one chooses the one which ensures maximum productivity with minimum input of labor and means. In this case it is possible to consider that soil and climatic resources and biological potential of crops as well as material and labor resources are used most fully and rationally in this crop rotation.
Net income of the crop rotation from 1 hectare of area and per 1 ruble of annual costs characterizes the overall economic efficiency, and the ratio of net income to costs – profitability of the crop rotation.
Efficiency assessment by environmental, energy and soil protection indicators
Under market economy conditions, changes in prices for materials and services an objective, integral assessment of crop rotation can be its energy efficiency.
Energy efficiency of crop rotation is the total energy inputs for growing all crops of the crop rotation and the total energy content of crops in order to determine the degree of recoupment of energy costs by energy content of products.
Net energy income is calculated as the difference between the energy content of crops and the total energy cost of growing all crops.
The energy efficiency coefficient is the ratio of net income to energy inputs.
Bioenergy coefficient (BER) – the ratio of energy received with the crops to the energy inputs.
Energy production cost – per unit of yield or protein.
The energy evaluation of crop rotation efficiency can be converted into monetary units if the cost of one kilojoule is known and, thus, transferred into the economic evaluation of crop rotation efficiency.
Soil protection assessment of crop rotation efficiency is determined taking into account the degree of erosion processes and the presence of crops and agricultural practices in the rotation, which can halt these processes and protect the soil from destruction.
Ecological efficiency of crop rotations is evaluated by phytosanitary potential, which reflects the reduction or complete abandonment of the use of chemical plant protection agents. Depending on the degree of use of leguminous crops, manure, straw for fertilization, green manure, sowing of perennial grasses and the intermediate crops, the ecologically effective structure of sown areas can be determined. These techniques reduce the use of mineral fertilizers and pesticides, protecting the environment and agricultural products from pollution.
Field history book and other documentation
The basis of agricultural production documentation is the on-farm land management project, which includes all documentation on crop rotations. It consists of cartographic materials, agro-economic justification, explanatory note, act on the transfer of the project to the area, etc.
The project documentation includes the Book of registration of crop rotations in which the basic data from agroeconomic substantiation are entered: quantity of introduced crop rotations, their area and quantity of fields, schemes of alternation of cultures, sown areas of each crop for the year of development of crop rotations, dynamics of changes of arable and other grounds, meliorative and soil-protective actions.
Based on this source documentation, enterprises keep a Field History Book.
The Field History Book of Crop Rotation is one of the main agro-production documents reflecting the history of each field of the crop rotation and crop cultivation technology.
It contains information about the state of the land fund and its brief characteristics. On the basis of the intrafarm land management project it includes information on introduced crop rotations: type and species, area of fields and the whole crop rotation, crop rotation scheme, transitional and rotational tables, planned and actual areas of crops, bare and seeded fallows, brief characteristics of relief and its borders, data on granulometric composition, physical and chemical properties of soils, thickness of arable layer and content of mobile forms of potassium, phosphorus and other nutrients. It contains characteristics of weed infestation of fields, main types of weed plants, quantitative assessment of pests and pathogens of diseases.
The field history book is kept by a farmer or an agronomist of the enterprise according to the results of agrotechnical measures. It records the results of phenological observations of plants, the timing and characteristics of weather events such as precipitation, frost on the soil and in the air, time of snowfall, dust storms, dry winds, etc.
The Field History Book is used to analyze compliance with crop rotations and farming techniques, to identify shortcomings and measures for their elimination. Based on these data, measures to improve the efficiency of land use and increase their productivity are developed.
Sources
Farming. Textbook for universities / G.I. Bazdyrev, V.G. Loshakov, A.I. Puponin et al. – M.: Publishing house “Kolos”, 2000. – 551 с.
Fundamentals of agricultural production technology. Farming and crop production. Edited by V.S. Niklyaev. – Moscow: Bylina, 2000. – 555 с.