Physical Condition of Soil in Sorghum Seeds Depending on Forecrop and Yield in Arid Zone Conditions

The research describes the results of studying the effect of grain sorghum forecrop on the agrophysical properties of the soil and their impact on fertility in the arid zone of the Stavropol Territory. The research was conducted on the crops of grain sorghum cultivated on such forecrop as winter wheat, silage corn, and sorghum in 2021–2022. The authors investigated such agrophysical properties of soils as productive moisture supply, water stability, structural and aggregate composition and density. The research object was grain sorghum “Zersta 97,” cultivated on winter wheat “Knyaginya Olga,” silage corn of “Krasnodar 291” hybrid, and sorghum “Zersta 97.” Grain sorghum “Zersta 97” is referred to as a variety of Kaffir sorghum. Its best qualities are that the yield can reach up to 8.0 t/ha and the leaf mass can be up to 30 t/ha. The purpose of the variety is to produce grain that goes for forage, alcohol, and starch production. The variety shows increased performance in production and has a high workability of cultivation. Studies were conducted in the arid zone on dark-chestnut soils (Esaulko et al. in Agriculture 13:55, 2023; Volters et al. in IOP Conf Ser Earth Environ Sci 1076, 2022). The correct selection of a forecrop plays a significant role in improving soil fertility (Dorozhko et al. in Influence of winter wheat forecrop cultivated in the zone of sufficient moisture on productive moisture supply. In A. Yu. Krylovsky (Ed.), Youth agrarian science: Status, problems, and prospects of development: Collection of scientific works of Stavropol State Agrarian University, All-Russian Council of Young Scientists and Specialists of Agrarian Educational, and scientific organizations of Southern Federal district (pp. 66–70). Stavropol, Russia: Agrus.; Volters and Zhuravleva in Biological activity of soil depending on forecrop and main tillage in the zone of sufficient moisture. In Current issues of ecology and environmental management (Vol. 2) (pp. 160–162). Stavropol, Russia: Agrus.; Volters and Zhuravleva in Influence of forecrop and main tillage on the chernozem structure. In Current issues of ecology and nature management. International scientific and practical conference (pp. 497–499). Moscow, Russia: RUDN University). Studies were conducted at all stages of the growth and development of grain sorghum. According to the results, in the phase of spring tillering, there is a maximum reserve of productive moisture in winter wheat as a forecrop; this indicator reaches 25 mm in the arable layer and 135 mm in the meter layer. The maximum number of agronomically valuable aggregates was also determined in the tillering phase of winter wheat (76.4%).