Depending on soil and climatic conditions, specialization, and planting structure, in the Far East field, forage, and special crop rotations with the number of fields from three to nine are used: 4-6-field field rotations without perennial grasses, 6-9-field rotations with alfalfa, clover, and grass mixtures. A significant share of row crops in the structure of sown areas allows the wide use of cereal-grass-row (fruit-changing) crop rotation as the basis for crop rotation and intensification of farming.

Cereal-grass-row crop rotations may include soybeans, cereal crops, legumes grasses, primarily clover of one-year use. For example: 1 – clover, 2 – soybeans, 3 – wheat, 4 – soybeans, 5 – cereals with undersowing of clover. If perennial grasses are used for a longer period of time, they are cultivated in a withdrawal field.

Cereal-soybean crop rotations with inclusion of cereals, soybeans, clover, and annual grasses are applied in soils with heavy granulometric composition and susceptible to overwatering and siltation. These crops, except soybeans, finish vegetation before the period of heavy rains.

In Primorsky Krai, repeated (two- and three-year) sowing of rice, potato and corn in field and special crop rotations is widespread. The share of rice in crops in the steppe and forest-steppe parts of the Prikhanka lowland is up to 75%.

In the areas of soybean cultivation, it accounts for 25-40% of the arable area. Here grain and fallow fields or crop rotations are used:

• 1 – bare or seeded fallow, 2 – wheat, 3 – soybeans, 4 – wheat or grain forage, 5 – soybeans;
• 1 – bare or seeded fallow, 2 – wheat, 3 – soybeans, 4 – wheat or other cereals.

On light soils, cereal-soybean crop rotations may include corn, potatoes, sugar beets or other row crops: 1 – corn, 2 – wheat, 3 – soybeans, 4 – spring cereals, 5 – soybeans.

At the enterprises of rice specialization special rice crop rotations are introduced.

On-farm crop rotations mainly include fodder crops:

• 1 – corn for silage, 2 – potatoes, 3 – root crops;
• 1 – clover, 2 – corn, 3 – potatoes and root crops, 4 – silage, 5 – barley with undersowing of clover.

Vegetable crop rotations are selected taking into account zonal recommendations, specialization and production needs.

In irrigated regions, depending on natural and economic conditions, we use row, cereal-grass-row, and cereal-row crop rotation systems.

In the extreme conditions of Siberia, crop rotation becomes especially important.

In Siberia, the main rotations are cereal-fallow, cereal-fallow-row, cereal-fallow-grass, and cereal-row crop rotations. The first type predominates, as it allows to solve the main problem – increasing grain production.

Cereal-fallow crop rotations are the most productive in terms of grain. Thanks to bare fallows, the minimum needs of spring wheat in water and nutrients under arid climate conditions are ensured. By the time of spring wheat sowing, bare fallows accumulate 1.5-2 times more moisture in the one-meter layer of soil than after cereal or row crop predecessors.

The most productive by grains crop rotations are 4-5-pole cereal-fallows:

• 1 – bare fallow, 2 – spring wheat, 3 – spring wheat, 4 – barley;
• 1 – bare fallow, 2 – spring wheat, 3 – spring wheat, 4 – barley, 5 – spring wheat.

For the forest-steppe part of Siberia crop rotations are recommended:

• 1 – fallow, 2-3 – spring wheat, 4 – corn for silage, 5 – spring wheat, 6 – barley, oats;
• 1 – fallow, 2-3 – spring wheat, 4 – corn forage, 5 – corn for silage, 6-7 – spring wheat, 8 – alfalfa (4-5 years old field).

In the central and northern forest-steppe of Altai Krai cereal-fallow-grass crop rotations are economically and agrotechnically profitable. Their productivity from 1 ha of the crop rotation area for wheat grain, fodder and protein is 105-115 kg/ha per 1 fodder unit. Interchange schemes: 1 – fallow (bare or seeded), 2 – wheat + perennial grasses, 3 – perennial grasses of 1st year of use, 4 – perennial grasses of 2nd year of use, 5 – wheat, 6 – oats + vetch or oats.

On sloping lands with a steepness of 3-5° and active manifestation of water erosion, four-field soil-protective cereal-grass crop rotations are introduced: 1 – wheat with undersowing of perennial grasses, 2 – perennial grasses of 1st year of use, 3 – perennial grasses of 2nd year of use, 4 – wheat.

On steep slopes above 5°, bare fallows are replaced by seeded fallows or leguminous crops with striped placement across slopes with perennial grass buffer strips 15-20 m wide and 100-200 m apart taking into account steepness and exposition of the area.

Strongly eroded slopes with a slope of more than 8° are completely grassed with perennial grasses.

Field soil-protective crop rotations with strip planting of annual crops and perennial grasses are introduced on light soils.

In general, the following crop rotations are recommended for the regions of Siberia:

• forest-steppe and moderately arid steppe regions:
  • 4-field cereal-fallow: 1 – bare (strip) fallow, 2-3 – spring wheat, 4 – barley;
  • 5-field: 1 – bare (strip) fallow, 2-4 – spring wheat, 5 – oats, barley;
  • 6-field cereal-fallow-grass: 1 – bare (strip) fallow, 2-3 – spring wheat, 4 – annual grasses, 5 – spring wheat, 6 – barley or wheat;
  • 6-field cereal-fallow-row: 1 – bare fallow (strip), 2-3 – spring wheat, 4 – corn (for silage), 5 – spring wheat, 6 – barley or oats;
  • 8-field cereal-fallow-row-grass: 1 – fallow, 2-3 – spring wheat, 4 – corn (barley, oats), 5 – corn for silage (annual grasses), 6 – spring wheat, 7 – spring wheat (grain forage), 8 – lucerne (derived field).
• steppe and dry steppe:
  • 3-field cereal-fallow: 1 – bare fallow (strip), 2-3 – spring wheat;
  • 4-field: 1 – bare (strip) fallow, 2-3 – spring wheat, 4 – barley or oats;
  • 5-field: 1 – bare (strip) fallow, 2-3 – spring wheat, 4 – barley or oats, 5 – spring wheat;
  • 5-field cereal-fallow-grass: 1 – bare (strip) fallow, 2-3 – spring wheat, 4 – spring wheat + perennial grasses, 5 – perennial grasses (non-rotation field).
• in semi-desert subzone:
  • 2-field cereal-fallow: 1 – bare fallow (strip), 2 – spring wheat;
  • 3-field: 1 – bare fallow (strip), 2 – spring wheat, 3 – fodder crops (millet).

In conditions of risk of wind erosion development 3-4-field cereal-fallow crop rotations are recommended with strip placement of bare fallow: 1 – bare fallow (strip), spring wheat, 2 – spring wheat, bare fallow (strip) and so on. Width of strips is 100 m.

Cereal-fallow crop rotations without row crops are used on saline soils:

• 1 – bare fallow (strip), 2 – spring wheat, 3 – spring wheat and leguminous, 4 – vetch-oat mixture, 5 – spring cereals;
• 1 – seeded (melilotus) fallow, 2 – spring wheat, 3 – spring wheat, etc.

Introduction of on-farm crop rotations is effective at enterprises with cattle breeding specialization. High yields of grain-forage crops in forage crop rotations are obtained in 2-3-year alternation with corn or millet sown for hay.

For cattle-breeding complexes with meat and dairy specialization grass-field with hay and pasture use, on-farm, saturated with silage crops, and forage, saturated with grain-forage crops, crop rotations are recommended.

At farms located near large cities and industrial centers, special vegetable crop rotations are introduced.

In the conditions of moisture deficit in Stavropol Territory and Rostov Region, the basis of crop rotation schemes is a section with bare fallow, cereal-fallow, cereal-fallow-row crop rotations of short rotation prevail. In Krasnodar Krai, cereal-row, row, and cereal-grass-row crop rotations with large saturation with sugar beet and other row crops are used. Long rotation in such crop rotations is explained by the inclusion of crops that require a long break in sowing and the desire to reduce the area under perennial grasses and bare fallows.

The main task in the introduction and development of field crop rotations for all soil and climate subzones of the North Caucasus is to provide winter wheat with optimal predecessors, the best of which is bare fallow.

On sloping lands with a slope of more than 3° bare (black) fallow is replaced by the sowing of perennial grasses or annual crops of continuous sowing.

Among the seeded fallows the greatest efficiency is shown by sainfoin for one mowing and legume-cereal, such as pea-oat, spring vetch, winter wheat and winter vetch. Positive effect of seeded fallows appears on condition of timely harvesting of a fallow crop, qualitative soil preparation and accumulation of sufficient moisture reserves.

In addition to seeded fallows, leguminous crops are good predecessors of winter cereals. Crop rotations with leguminous crops yield the highest yield of grain per hectare.

Widespread predecessors of winter wheat in the region are row crops harvested for silage, such as corn and sunflowers. However, an important disadvantage of these predecessors is the low supply of moisture and nitrogen at the time of sowing winter crops. The receipt of sprouts of winter wheat is negatively affected by excessive looseness of the soil after plowing, especially after late plowing.

Sugar beet, as a rule, in crop rotations is placed after winter wheat, going on a bare or seeded fallow. Repeated sowing of sugar beet or corn on grain, sunflower and other strong drying soil predecessors is not allowed.

After sugar beet is often placed corn for silage or spring barley. Sunflowers are cultivated at the end of crop rotation, return it to its previous place not earlier than 7-9 years, as otherwise the crops are very strongly affected by gray mold and infestation.

Sample crop rotations for crop rotation systems in the North Caucasus:

• cereal-fallow:
  • 5-field: 1 – bare fallow, 2-3 – winter wheat, 4 – millet, 5 – winter, spring barley or oats;
  • 6-field: 1 – bare fallow, 2-3 – winter wheat, 4 – bare fallow, 5 – winter wheat, 6 – spring cereals or castor.
• cereal-fallow-row;
  • 5-field: 1 – bare fallow, 2-3 – winter wheat, 4 – corn for silage, sorghum, 5 – spring, winter barley, millet;
  • 8-field: 1 – bare fallow, 2-3 – winter wheat, 4 – row crop silage (corn, sunflower, sorghum), 5 – winter, spring barley, 6 – bare fallow, 7 – winter wheat, 8 – sorghum for grain;
  • 8-field: 1 – bare fallow, 2 – winter wheat, 3 – spring barley with sainfoin, 4 – sainfoin, 5 – winter wheat, 6 – row crop for silage, 7 – winter wheat, 8 – sunflower;
• cereal-row:
  • 8-field: 1 – leguminous, 2-3 – winter wheat, 4 – sunflower, 5 – seeded fallow, 6 – winter wheat, 7 – corn for grain, 8 – castor beans;
  • 9 – field: 1 – seeded fallow, 2 – winter wheat, 3 – sugar beet, 4 – leguminous, 5 – winter wheat, 6 – sunflower, 7 – corn for silage, 8 – winter wheat, 9 – spring barley with grass sainfoin;
• row:
  • 8-field: 1 – peas, 2 – winter wheat, 3 – potatoes, sugar beet, 4 – corn for silage, 5 – winter barley, spring cereals, 6 – corn for grain, 7 – sunflower, 8 – spring cereals;
  • 9 – field field: 1 – seeded fallow, 2 – winter wheat, 3 – sugar beet, corn for grain, 4 – corn for silage, buckwheat, 5 – winter wheat, 6 – corn for grain, 7 – corn for silage, 8 – winter barley, 9 – sunflower.

On slopes subject to wind and water erosion, soil-protecting crop rotations with contour organization of territory and banded arrangement of crops are introduced. For example: 1 – perennial grasses, winter wheat, 2 – perennial grasses, potatoes, 3 – perennial grasses, oats + grasses, 4 – winter wheat, perennial grasses, 5 – potatoes, perennial grasses, 6 – oats + grasses, perennial grasses.

Corn and sorghum, perennial and annual grasses, winter and spring cereals are cultivated in fodder on-farm crop rotations.

The following crop rotations are used in the Volga region:

• cereals-fallow-row:
  • 6-field: 1 – bare or seeded fallow, 2 – winter crops, 3 – sugar beet, 4 – spring wheat, 5 – millet, 6 – barley;
  • 7-field: 1 – bare fallow, 2 – winter wheat, 3 – spring wheat or millet, 4 – leguminous crops, 5 – winter rye or spring wheat, 6 – barley, oats, 7 – sunflower;
  • 8-field: 1 – bare fallow, 2 – winter crops, 3 – sugar beet, 4 – millet or barley, 5 – leguminous, 6 – winter or spring wheat, 7 – barley, oats, 8 – sunflower;
• cereals-fallow:
  • 6-field: 1 – leguminous, 2 – winter or spring wheat, 3 – barley or millet, 4 – spring wheat, 5 – corn, 6 – barley;
  • 8-fields: 1 – leguminous, 2 – winter or spring wheat, 3 – barley or millet, 4 – spring wheat, 5 – maize, 6 – winter or spring wheat, 7 – barley or oats, 8 – sunflower.

Taking into account specialization of farms and soil and climate conditions in the central Right Bank the following field crop rotations are recommended:

• 6-field: 1 – bare fallow, 2 – winter crops, 3 – spring wheat, 4 – corn, 5 – spring wheat, 6 – barley;
• 7-field: 1 – bare fallow, 2 – winter crops, 3 – millet or barley, 4 – leguminous, 5 – winter or spring wheat, 6 – barley, 7 – sunflower or 1 – bare fallow, 2 – winter crops, 3 – spring wheat, 4 – millet, 5 – spring wheat, 6 – corn, 7 – barley;
• 8-field: 1 – bare fallow, 2 – winter crops, 3 – spring wheat, millet, 4 – corn, 5 – barley, 6 – leguminous, 7 – winter or spring wheat, 8 – sunflower;
• 9-field: 1 – bare fallow, 2 – winter crops, 3 – spring wheat, millet, 4 – leguminous, 5 – winter or spring wheat, 6 – barley, 7 – corn, 8 – oats, 9 – sunflowers.

When moving to the south and southeast the aridity of climate increases, so the specific weight of pure fallows in cereal-fallow crop rotations increases. Typical scheme of cereal-fallow crop rotations for the south-eastern part of the Volga region: 1 – bare fallow, 2 – winter or spring wheat, 3 – spring wheat, 4 – millet, 5 – barley, 6 – mustard.

In the most arid regions of the Volga region, where rainfall is 200-250 mm, cereal-fallow crop rotations with a short rotation are used: 

• 1 – bare fallow, 2 – winter wheat, 3 – millet or barley;
• 1 – bare fallow, 2 – winter wheat, 3 – spring wheat or millet, 4 – barley.

In areas located near large administrative centers, due to the development of dairy cattle farms and farms with vegetable and potato specialization, the share of fodder and vegetable crops in crop rotations increases. Special vegetable, vegetable-potato and vegetable-fodder crop rotations with irrigation are also used here.

The following crop rotations are recommended for the Central Black Earth zone: 1 – bare and seeded fallow, peas, 2 – winter cereal crops, 3 – row crops, 4 – spring cereal crops.

It is important to place winter cereal crops on good predecessors, the best of which is bare fallow.

It is possible to expand the area of cereal crops over 60% with high cropping culture by introducing pea crops, in the southern regions of Voronezh and Belgorod regions – pea and corn for grain. In areas where the cultivation of corn for grain is impossible, cereal crops are introduced to expand the sowing of cereals. Expansion of pea and corn crops requires additional measures to control weeds and pests.

In the system of rotations flat land is mainly allocated for row crops, if necessary with a bare fallow, sloping – under soil-protective high proportion of perennial grasses and crops of continuous seeding. On sandy, floodplain and irrigated lands introduce crop rotations, taking into account their fertility.

Systems of crop rotations are determined by specialization and soil and climatic conditions of farming. At enterprises of grain direction cereal-fallow, cereal-row and cereal-fallow-row crop rotations are introduced. At farms of grain and livestock specialization also add crop rotations with perennial and annual grasses. It is economically feasible to allocate near-farm on-farm crop rotations and areas for the production of green and succulent fodder.

The crop rotations of grain and beet farms can be 4-5-field with the saturation of cereals to 60%, sugar beet – to 20-25%, fodder cultures – to 15-20%: 1 – black and seeded fallow, peas, 2 – winter crops, 3 – sugar beet, 4 – spring cereals, 5 – corn for grain, corn for silage.

Sunflower farms may have 7-8-field crop rotations with the total area of industrial crops up to 20-25%, half of which are beets, the other half – sunflowers: 1 – bare or seeded fallow, 2 – winter cereals, 3 – sugar beet, 4 – spring cereals, 5 – peas, 6 – winter cereals, 7 – sunflower, 8 – spring cereals.

Crop rotations with dairy-grain-vegetable specialization of the farm can be eight-, nine- or ten-field, with a share of industrial crops in the structure of sown areas of about 20%. In the forest-steppe zone, most of it is sugar beet, in the steppe – sunflower:

• for the forest-steppe part of the Central Black Earth zone:
  • 1 – bare and seeded fallow, 2 – winter wheat, 2 – sugar beet, 4 – barley, 5 – peas, 6 – winter wheat and rye, 7 – corn for silage, 8 – barley, 9 – sunflower, 10 – barley, oats;
  • 1 – seeded fallow, 2 – winter wheat, 3 – sugar beet, 4 – barley with lucerne sprouting, 5-6 – lucerne, 7 – corn.
• For the steppe part: 1 – bare fallow, 2 – winter wheat, 3 – sugar beet, corn for grain, 4 – barley, oats, 5 – peas, 6 – winter wheat, rye, 7 – corn for silage, millet, 8 – barley, 9 – sunflower.

In these crop rotations 3-4-field crop rotations with bare and seeded fallow, peas, corn for silage may be considered as independent crop rotations.

In the north-west districts with sufficient moisture and on irrigated lands, two fields of sugar beet may be introduced: 1 – bare and seeded fallow, 2 – winter wheat, 3 – sugar beet, 4 – barley, 5 – peas, 6 – winter wheat, 7 – sugar beet, 8 – barley, 9 – corn for silage, 10 – sunflower. Mother beet (for seed production) is placed on winter wheat in the first section of crop rotation, while beet-planting is in the second section of crop rotation.

Perennial grasses (clover, sainfoin) are usually introduced into crop rotation after barley and used as an seeded fallow for one harvest for winter crops. If alfalfa has a good productivity it is advisable to use it for 3-4 years. To do this it is cultivated in a withdrawable field according to the scheme (by Sidorov M.I.): 1 – bare and seeded fallow, 2 – winter wheat, 3 – sugar beet + cereals, 4 – peas, 5 – winter wheat, 6 – barley, 7 – corn for silage, 8 – barley, oats, 9 – sunflower + groats, 10 – lucerne (non-rotation field). One year before plowing alfalfa is sown in the sixth field under barley.

Soil-protective crop rotations are used on sloping lands with steepness more than 3°. In order to prevent soil runoff and washout, they are saturated with crops with high projective soil-protective coverage in the most erosion-dangerous periods of the year. Such crops include, first of all, perennial grasses and solid winter crops. The steeper the slope, the greater the saturation with perennial grasses should be. Strongly eroded slopes are set aside for grassing.

The following schemes of soil-protective crop rotations are recommended:

• 1 – annual grasses with undersowing of perennial grasses, 2-4 – perennial grasses, 5 – winter rye, 6 – barley;
• 1 – barley with undersowing of perennial grasses; 2-3 – perennial grasses; 4 – winter wheat; 5 – millet.

Forage (on-farm) crop rotations with small areas and a short rotation are used at livestock breeding farms. Approximate schemes of fodder crop rotations (M.I. Sidorov):

• 1 – corn for green fodder + sainfoin, 2 – sainfoin for one mowing + corn for green fodder, 3 – fodder melons, 4 – annual grasses, 5 – winter crops for green fodder + corn for green fodder, 6 – fodder beets;
• 1 – annual grasses for green fodder, 2 – winter rye for green fodder + corn, 3 – fodder beet, 4 – corn for green fodder, 5 – fodder melons, 6 – lucerne (non-rotation field).

If forage crop rotations are saturated with alfalfa and winter cereals, they can also perform a soil-protecting function.

The fallow system is a farming system that replaced the swidden and old-fallow systems, in which fallow fields were introduced.

The need to introduce fallow fields was justified by the fight against weeds. Management and economic conditions forced to reduce the period of fallow fields and at the same time the duration of use of ploughed fallow fields for sowing crops. For this reason, in order to suppress weeds and rationally use the land, fallow tillage between cereal crops was introduced. Thus, the swidden system turned into a transitional swidden-fallow form and in some cases – directly into fallow system.

The emergence of the fallow system of farming occurred during feudalism. Population growth led to an increase in the demand for agricultural products, which caused the expansion of the agricultural area and a reduction in the time to 1-2 years of using swidden fallow.

The fallow system can be considered a better farming system, as land use improved and grain production increased. The appearance of commercial grain in Russia is associated with the beginning of the use of the fallow system.

Soil cultivation in the fallow field combined with the application of fertilizers, primarily manure, was human intervention in the natural soil processes, which led to an increase in yields. Cereal crops in the fallow system account for up to 2/3 of the arable area, with fallow fields occupying the rest.

The most common crop rotations of the fallow system were:

• two-field: 1 – fallow, 2 – cereals;
• three-field: 1 – fallow, 2, 3 – cereals;
• less often four-fallow: 1 – fallow, 2, 3, 4 – cereals.

A great disadvantage of the fallow system was the absence of fodder crops, which had a negative effect on livestock production. The ploughing of swidden plots also led to the reduction of pastures. A fallow field was used to graze cattle in spring and summer and autumn after the grain harvest, the rest of the fields were used. However, this approach did not provide livestock with sufficient fodder. Livestock productivity decreased, as did the amount of manure, which in turn had a negative effect on crop yields. Cattle breeding, not having a solid basis, was called manure agriculture.

Despite the progressiveness of the fallow system compared to swidden and old-fallow systems, untimely tillage of fallow and fields due to grazing, poor tillage, constant cultivation of annual cereal plants led to weeding, decreased fertility and deterioration of physical properties of the soil. Low cropping culture led to the development of erosion in many regions, and yields remained rather low and unstable. For example, grain yields were 0.5-0.7 t/ha, and in dry years not even seeds were harvested.

In the central regions of Russia, the fallow system appeared in the beginning of the 16th century, became widespread and remained the main till 1917. V.I. Lenin characterized the cereal-fallow system of tsarist Russia as the most conservative and subjected it to serious criticism, not providing the most basic conditions for progress in agriculture.

Under the conditions of socialist agriculture, the cereal-fallow farming system acquired a different significance. Thanks to good technical equipment, the best timing of tillage of fallow and other fields of the crop rotation, the application of optimal amounts of fertilizers, and the carrying out of variety sowing, the cereal-fallow system has shown its effectiveness. It with three-field or four-field crop rotations in conditions of application of soil-protective, forest-reclamation measures and modern technologies of crops cultivation is used even now in a number of arid regions of Kazakhstan and Siberia, in which other cropping systems are less effective due to special climatic, soil and economic conditions.

In Western Europe, the fallow farming system has not been used for a long time. It has survived only in the grain farms of arid regions of the USA, Canada and some other countries, where its application is economically justified.

In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the increase in crop yields was hampered by the development of cattle breeding, which was the only source of fertilizer at that time, and the development of cattle breeding, in turn, by the lack of fodder. Therefore, Russian agricultural scientists of the time were looking for rational ways to cultivate a variety of forage grasses in the fields of different zones of the country and made numerous experiments.

A great contribution to the solution of this question was made by V.A. Levshin, a member of the Free Economic Society, and D.M. Poltoratsky and I.I. Samarin, agricultural practitioners.

V.A. Levshin paid attention to the study of wild grasses, experimental grass seeding and improvement of the fallow farming system. Among his numerous works devoted to these issues, the following played a great role in the development of domestic agronomy and agricultural practice: “Description of fodder grasses discovered in the Tula province, the convenience of their reproduction by sowing, conversion of some of them for economic use”, “On the Settlement of Steppes”, “On Plants Harmful and Useful to Cattles”.

These works allow to call V.A. Levshin a founder of the theory of grass sowing in Russia and the creator of improved fallow system of farming, which in agricultural literature of the 19th century entered under the name “improved cereal system” and was widely used in the peasant farms of Moscow and Yaroslavl provinces.

V.A. Levshin proposed for the south of Russia crop rotation: 1 – winter crops, 2 – spring crops, 3 – first-year grasses, 4 – second-year grasses.

He understood that the dominant fallow system with cereal three-field farming caused the lack of meadows and pastures, livestock and manure, unable to ensure the restoration and maintenance of soil fertility.

D.M. Poltoratsky, an educated landowner, at about the same time began grass farming on a wide scale for the time. On his Avchurino estate he applied a new system of farming. All the land of the estate, which amounted to 2,700 dessiatinas (2900 ha), was divided into two plots – near and far. The nearer one was allotted for crop rotation: 1 – potatoes, peas, carrots, beans, lentils; 2 – spring wheat, oats, barley; 3 – clover for green fodder and hay; 4 – winter wheat and rye. At the far site seven-field crop rotation was applied: 1-3 – oats, 4 – 1st year clover, 5 – 2nd year clover, 6 – winter crops, 7 – oats. Then the land was allocated for pasture or haying.

Transition to a new cereal-grass-row system of farming allowed to increase the yield of crops, increase the number of livestock on the farm. However, the cereal-grass-row crop rotation, introduced by Poltoratsky, was not widespread in Russia.

Crop rotation of V.A. Levshin, which underwent great changes, eventually became widespread in the farms of the central provinces of the Non-Chernozem zone.