The paper reports the results of a study conducted in 2023 in the Baltabai rural district, Yenbekshikazakh district, Almaty Region, Kazakhstan. The study centered on analyzing soil samples collected as part of field experiments. The research goal was to assess the influence of various organic farming technologies on soil microorganisms, such as bacteria, fungi, and actinomycetes. The results proved highly significant for microbiological research as they highlight the effect of various environmental conditions on the growth and development of microorganisms. The study reveals that using organic farming technology in the combination of winter peas and corn as a cover crop promotes a higher concentration of bacteria than traditional cultivation methods. Cultivating soybeans with organic agriculture resulted in the highest levels of bacteria. Cultivation of winter peas for green mass, its use of soybean cover in organic agriculture, and their variants becoming straw as organic fertilizers helped increase actinomycete concentration. It proved that Gause’s agar, Ashby’s medium, and meat-peptone agar provide optimal conditions for the growth of bacteria.
Meanwhile, Czapek-Dox and Hutchison’s media do not support their growth at specified dilution rates. Actinomycetes fruitfully multiplied in Gause’s and Hutchison’s media at the 10^-3 dilution rate. Ashby’s medium, meat-peptone agar, and starch ammonia agar at the dilution rate of 10^-5 showed no positive effect on the growth of fungi, while Czapek-Dox, Gause’s, and Hutchison’s media diluted at the rate of 10^-3 provided optimal conditions for soil fungi production. The findings of this study can find practical applications in quality control and safety assurance in medicine, food production, and agriculture.
Сover crops, culture media, soil bacteria, fungi, actinomycetes, organic farming, Kazakhstan
Organic farming methods, particularly winter peas and winter peas intercropped with corn, resulted in higher bacterial concentrations than conventional farming practices. Soybean cultivation within the organic farming framework displayed the highest bacterial concentration among the tested crops. Cultivating winter peas for green mass and using soybean as a cover crop in organic farming, especially when combined with straw as organic fertilizer, led to elevated concentrations of actinomycetes.