In Western Siberia, the problem of obtaining full-fledged sprouts of cereal crops is due to hydrothermal conditions in the period of sowing-shoots, pests and diseases, and agronomical methods of sowing. In case of the direct sowing of cereal crops, the most common types of working organs of sowing machines are the V-sharped coulter, chisel and disc. The effectiveness of their use in the dry steppe of the Altai Territory has been poorly studied. To establish the most effective seed coulter in 26 farms in the dry part of the region, the studies were carried out from 2005 to 2012 on seeders with double disc coulters, with V-sharped coulters of domestic and foreign production, and with chisel-type coulters. The years of research (2006)(2007)(2008)(2009)(2010)(2011) were characterized by a moisture supply below the average (vegetation rainfall was 80% of the norm), and in 2012 -as an acute drought (40% of the norm). The most effective seeders in the cultivation of spring wheat in the dry steppe are seeders equipped with chisel-type coulters. They allow better preservation of soil moisture (by 17-28 mm to control) during the sowing period, improving the quality of crops, field germinating by 4.8 -12.0%, and increasing the yield of wheat. In the arid year of 2012, it amounted to 1.26 t/ha after fallow, 0.88 t/ha after peas, 0.46 t/ha after wheat, respectively, at 0.64, 0.59 and 0.25 t/ha for control (two-disc coulter SZP-3,6). Seeders with V-sharped coulters of domestic and foreign production, for wheat yields did not differ significantly, but exceeded the control under the conditions of the arid year by 0.21-0.59 t/ha, depending on the forecrop.

The article substantiates the urgency of environmental optimization of steppe land use, aimed at overcoming the acute challenges of our time, associated with the depletion of natural resources, climate change and food tension. The article analyzes the main problems of nature use, typical for steppe regions of Russia at a modern geoecological state of landscapes. The transboundary character of the territory under consideration is noted and the evolution of its landscapes under the influence of natural and anthropogenic factors, which make the study of the issues of rational use of natural resources and sustainable development of steppe regions actual, is described. The attention is focused on the significant participation of the mesoregion under consideration, which has the main share of the area of spread of black earths, in the production of agricultural products and strategic importance for the sustainable functioning of the Russian economy. Correlation-regression relations of the main ecological factors with productivity of grain agrocenoses are analyzed and ecologically oriented methods of increasing the efficiency of bioclimatic resources use of the mentioned territory are substantiated. Promising technological solutions, the introduction of which guarantees the maintenance of social and food security, will ensure the inexhaustible use of soil and land resources and reduce the anthropogenic impact on natural ecosystems, the preservation of biological diversity in the steppe regions in their agricultural use. The conclusion is made about the possibility of increasing the economic feasibility of crop production and noticeable soil-restoring and medium improving effects, new reserves to meet the needs of the modern generation and ensure social justice, while reducing the risks of impoverishment of the environment and limiting the life opportunities of future generations.

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The paper presents data on the influence of the direct sowing technology on the soil water regime, the yield and the grain quality of the spring wheat in the steppe zone of Altai Krai. The results showed that 2009 was the best year for the spring wheat yield; 2012, 2014 and 2015 were characterized by the minimum values of the soil moisture content and the spring wheat yield. However, there was the highest amount of gluten in grains during these years. The correlation between the yield and the water accumulation in the meter soil layer for the autumn-spring period was the highest, R=0.83. This can be taken into account in the direct sowing technology implementation in the spring soft wheat production.

In this article, we proposed a rationale for choosing the seeding aggregates to improve the quality of ordinary spring wheat sowing in the moderate arid steppe of the Altai Territory. We determined the actual values and variability of spring wheat sowing quality indicators when different sowing units were used. A comparative evaluation of sowing aggregates was made on the basis of a generalized parameter that characterizes the quality of sowing taking into account their equalization. The study compared the following technologies and seeding machines: direct seeding with the use of the EPPK-2.5 complex; zero technology (No-Till) with sowing complex Condor; traditional technology of cultivation of crops with autumn processing with PG-3-5 gun, presowing processing of APK-7.2 and sowing of SZP-3.6A. The compared variants were randomly located, the sowing was carried out in the third decade of May, the rate of sowing was 5 million virgin grains per hectare, spring soft wheat "Altai 70". Determination of quality parameters of sowing (depth of seeding, the number of plants, plant height and their statistics) were conducted in the 2nd decade of June. During 2013-2016, SZP-3.6A crops had the advantage from the number of shoot and it was 346.1 pcs / m2, which is by 1.84 and 2.34 times was higher than Condor and EPPK-2.5 respectively. The height of plants also had an advantage of SZP-3,6A -282.6 mm, which was higher by 25.4 mm and 71.2 mm than in Condor and EPPK-2.5 respectively. Each indicator of the quality of sowing was characterized by fluctuated magnitude. High coefficient of variation indicated low quality of sowing. We calculated the equalization coefficient for each parameter to assess the uniformity of crops performed by each machine. The SZP-3,6A seeder exceeded the compared seeding complexes for all three parameters, which indicated higher seed uniformity than Condor and EPPK-2.5. Comparative evaluation of the seeding machines Condor and EPPK-2.5 was ambiguous. At the seeding unit EPPK-2.5, the leveling factor was 12.3% higher than in Condor, the seeding rate was 17.8% lower in comparison with Condor, and the plant height was insignificantly (by 2.1%) lower than Condor. We suggested a generalized leveling factor to evaluate the sowing aggregates in terms of the quality of sowing, i.e. radius vector drawn up to point A, characterized by the coordinates A (depth of embankment, number of sprouts, and plant height). A better seeding was obtained with the SZP-3.6 A seeding unit (84.2%). The lowest quality parameters for sowing were obtained from the seeding complex EPPK-2.5 (75.9%). Crops with this complex were characterized by the greatest uneven quality of sowing, which requires a correct justification for both the sowing rate, the method of sowing and the width of the rows of cultivated crops according to the technology applied to specific conditions.