The relevance of this study stems from the need to optimize primary soil tillage techniques for grain maize cultivation, as they have a substantial impact on agrophysical soil properties. This issue becomes particularly critical under conditions of unstable and insufficient moisture supply. Enhancing these soil properties is expected to improve the water regime and reduce weed pressure, thereby enabling stable and high yields. Consequently, there is an urgent need to develop effective tillage strategies for row crops, especially maize. The research was conducted in 2023 and 2024 in the Left-Bank Forest-Steppe of Ukraine, on low-humus typical chernozem. The study found that the highest reserves of productive moisture in the arable layer at the time of maize sowing were observed under plowing to a depth of 20–22 cm (18.4 mm), while the lowest moisture reserves were recorded under shallow disk tillage without soil inversion (16.0 mm). By the time of harvest, soil moisture reserves had dropped to critical levels in the arable horizon (0.6–1.2 mm), while the meter-deep layer retained 28.3–32.1 mm. At the maize emergence stage, soil bulk density remained within the optimal range across all tillage methods: Plowing – 1.13–1.22 g/cm³, Deep loosening – 1.16–1.26 g/cm³, Heavy cultivator tillage (12–14 cm) – 1.18–1.26 g/cm³, Disk tillage (12–14 cm) – 1.17–1.25 g/cm³. However, from emergence to harvest, soil compaction increased more under plowing than under no-till methods. The highest maize grain yield – 7.98 t ha-1 – was achieved with plowing to 20–22 cm. In contrast, deep loosening without soil turnover and no-till methods at 12–14 cm resulted in a significant yield reduction of 1.20–1.32 t ha-1. In terms of energy efficiency, the lowest energy efficiency ratio (2.4) was recorded under plowing. With reduced energy inputs in no-till systems without inversion, this ratio increased to 2.7–2.9.