Specific features of water permeability in virgin and cultivated chernozems

The tendency and type of quantitative changes in the main characteristics of the water permeability of automorphic (typical and ordinary) chernozems in the central part of the Russian Plain have been studied in the system of virgin soil (long-term fallow), rainfed plowland, and irrigated plowland. It is shown that irrigation exerts the most pronounced adverse effect on the water permeability of chernozems. The revealed causes of unfavorable changes in the water permeability of chernozems in the region are related to their agricultural use.