Effect of different tillage methods on the structure and dynamics of fungal microbiota of Chernozems in Krasnodar Krai, Russia
E. Y. Gyrnets, A. V. Ponomarev, O. Y. Kremneva [et al.]
Research on Crops. – 2025. – Vol. 26, No. 4 (DECEMBER) 2025. – P. 698-706.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.31830/2348-7542.2025.roc-1262
Communities of soil fungi play a crucial role in maintaining crop health, and tillage methods can disrupt the balance between pathogenic and beneficial fungi. On the highly fertile chernozem soils of the Krasnodar Territory (southern Russia), traditionally cultivated by deep ploughing, the effect of reduced tillage on the soil mycobiota remains unclear. This study aims to meet the need for local data on how the lack of tillage and minimal tillage affect soil fungi compared to conventional ploughing. Field experiments were conducted during two winter wheat growing seasons (2023-2024 and 2024-2025) at the Federal Research Center for Biological Plant Protection in the Krasnodar Territory. Four tillage methods were evaluated: dump ploughing, combined tillage, minimal tillage and no tillage. Soil samples were collected at key stages (before sowing, spring vegetative growth, and after harvesting) and analysed for the number of fungal colonies and community composition (identification of saprotrophic and pathogenic fungi at the genus level). Saprotrophic fungi Penicillium and Aspergillus predominated in all soils (up to 80% of the total number of colonies), which indicates a high decomposition activity. However, the number of pathogenic fungi of the genus Fusarium increased markedly with zero and minimal tillage, reaching up to 10-15% of the fungal community by spring, compared with lower levels (up to 5%) with dump and combined tillage. Trichoderma antagonist fungi showed the opposite trend: their populations were higher in ploughed and combined areas than in untreated ones. These results suggest that traditional and combined tillage can more effectively suppress soil pathogens in the short term, while zero or minimal tillage may require additional measures, including the use of biocontrol tools to maintain soil health.