The Effect of Protective Afforestation on the Phytosanitary State of Chestnut Soils

Deterioration of the phytosanitary state of the soil and crops that occurred in the course of intensive agricultural development of chestnut soils has been revealed. Stationary observations were carried out at the Kachalino experimental-production farm of the Federal Research Center of Agroecology of the Russian Academy of Sciences located in the Ilovlya district and at the Gornaya Polyana experimental-production farm located in the Volgograd region. The analysis of winter wheat plants has revealed the presence of such root rot pathogens as Alternaria alternariae (Cooke) Woudenb. & Crous., Fusarium oxysporum Schlecht, and Bipolaris sorokiniana Shoemaker. A positive effect of protective afforestations on the phytosanitary condition of cereal crops has been determined. During the infection spreading period in April, tree species used in protective afforestations provided a different influence on the wind speed and soil moisture of the adjacent territories. Elm and oak forest belts effectively reduce a root rot occurrence in winter wheat; their biological efficiency makes 13.71-43.96%. The root rot development in protected zones (up to 150 m from trees) was reduced by 5-7%, while the yield increased by 9.4-21.3%.