Slot Fallow

a type of fallow occupied by windbreaks (rows of tall crops).

The slot-fallow method is a reliable means of increasing the productivity of grain crops in arid regions (especially in years with harsh winters and scant snow cover), such as the southern part of the Central Chernozem Zone, the steppe regions of the Ukraine and the Northern Caucasus, and the Lower and Central Volga regions. Spring wheat is the principal crop sown with the slot-fallow method in the northern areas of Kazakhstan and in many parts of Siberia. A field to be used for slot fallow is deeply plowed in fall. The windbreak crops are sown the following spring or summer. The field is harrowed in spring, before planting time. Then, also before planting, it is cultivated once if sunflower is to be planted. It is cultivated twice, the first time usually to a depth of 10^-12 cm and the second time to 8 cm, for corn and sorghum. The windbreaks are planted in summer at the time of the regular cultivation of the fallow. The soil in the spaces between the windbreaks receives ordinary fallow cultivation.

Of the windbreak crops sown in spring, only the fruit-bearing organs (sunflower anthodia, corn cobs) are harvested; the stems are left on the roots to retain snow. Summer plantings make it easier to care for the fallow in spring and early summer (before the windbreaks are planted), and they dry the soil less.