Technologies and methods of restoration of degraded forage lands of the Central Caucasus

Abstract

Abstract. The article presents the results of R&D and new units for the restoration of degraded mountain areas. The purpose of the study is the accelerated restoration of the natural phytocenosis and the implementation of measures to improve meadows using these aggregates. The object of the study is the technologies and units developed by the authors for the following operations: cutting bumps, raking stones, sowing grass mixtures with the simultaneous application of mineral fertilizers. The research objectives included: determining the initial floristic composition of a degraded mountain meadow; assessment of the impact of events and agricultural practices on the change in the floristic composition of the grass stand, its productivity and energy intensity; identification of the effectiveness of the application of the developed units when sowing herbs in turf and targeted application of mineral fertilizers. The novelty of the technical solution lies in the fact that new resource-saving methods have been developed to improve mountain fodder land using small-sized universal units. . The tests were carried out at a mountain hospital located on the southeastern exposition of the Dargavskiy depression of the North Ossetia-Alania, at an altitude of 1650 m above sea level with a slope of 10°, in six plots, with a recorded area of 360 m2. Three options in triplicate. The first option is natural seeding, and the second is grass seeding by the aggregate, the third option is grass seeding and low doses of N60P45K20 fertilizers. The plots are located across the slope randomized. It was found that at a concentration of 17.2 MJ of energy in 1 kg of dry matter of feed, the total collection in the control plot was 29.7 GJ, and in the seeded experimental field – 85.3 GJ; the crop of the aboveground fodder mass, when sowing grasses, in the first year of observations amounted to 21.8 c/ha of dry weight, which is 3 times higher than in the control. During the growing season of the third year of observations, the yield in the sown area was 39.2 c/ha of dry weight against 19.3 c/ha in the control.

Effect of quality management of pasture lands in the mountain zone of Central Caucasus on dairy cow production

“…Under the conditions of North Ossetia-Alania, the rational use and improvement of natural mountain fodder lands is of utmost importance, since of all fodder consumed by animal husbandry in the Republic, pasture accounts for 61.3% of all lands used by agriculture.However, the excessive load, the early use of pastures and haphazard grazing has led mountain pastures to an unsatisfactory state.They are littered with non-food and poisonous plants, their yield is low, the herbage is depleted, there is morphing and degradation of grassland phytocenoses. But due to non-compliance with the terms of use, overload and lack of care, mountain forage lands continue to deteriorate, increasing degradation processes (Soldatova I.E. et al 2020).…”