EFFECT OF AXLE LOAD, TIRE INFLATION PRESSURE, AND TILLAGE SYSTEM ON SOIL PHYSICAL PROPERTIES AND CROP YIELD OF A JORDANIAN SOIL

Tillage is a critical soil management option that affect many soil physical, chemical and biological properties, which in turn may alter the soil environment and consequently impact on root growth and distribution, and crop yield. This study was carried out to evaluate the long-term effects of different soil tillage systems on some soil physical properties under both irrigated and rainfed wheat productions for nine consecutive wheat seasons (2011-12 and 2019-20) at Koont research farm, PMAS-Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi. Four soil tillage systems were performed i.e. conventional tillage system (S1), reduced tillage system-1 (S2), reduced tillage system-2 (S3) and no tillage system (S4). The results showed that soil moisture content measured at both soil depths (0-15 and 15-30 cm) was the maximum in direct sowing (S4) and lowest in conventional soil tillage system (S1). Bulk density and porosity were changes with tillage depth. Among studied tillage systems, bulk density and penetration resistance values were the maximum and porosity was lowest in direct wheat sowing system. Soil particle size distribution was affected by operations and agricultural machinery used in soil tillage systems. The aggregate size smaller than 1 mm showed higher fragmentation (42.25%) in S3. This study showed that soil physical properties were influenced by tillage systems in wheat production under irrigation and rainfed environment. Although the climate of the study area is semi-arid and direct sowing system provide maximum moisture but reduced tillage method can be used for better soil physical properties and highest crop yield.

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Stabilization of soil hydraulic properties under a long term no-till system

Revista Brasileira de Ciência do Solo ◽

10.1590/s0100-06832014000400024 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 38 (4) ◽

pp. 1281-1292 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Luis Alberto Lozano ◽

Carlos Germán Soracco ◽

Vicente S. Buda ◽

Guillermo O. Sarli ◽

Roberto Raúl Filgueira

Keyword(s):

Hydraulic Conductivity ◽

Physical Properties ◽

Hydraulic Properties ◽

Sandy Loam ◽

Soil Physical Properties ◽

Water Retention Curve ◽

Mean Values ◽

Tillage System ◽

Crop Sequence

The area under the no-tillage system (NT) has been increasing over the last few years. Some authors indicate that stabilization of soil physical properties is reached after some years under NT while other authors debate this. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of the last crop in the rotation sequence (1st year: maize, 2nd year: soybean, 3rd year: wheat/soybean) on soil pore configuration and hydraulic properties in two different soils (site 1: loam, site 2: sandy loam) from the Argentinean Pampas region under long-term NT treatments in order to determine if stabilization of soil physical properties is reached apart from a specific time in the crop sequence. In addition, we compared two procedures for evaluating water-conducting macroporosities, and evaluated the efficiency of the pedotransfer function ROSETTA in estimating the parameters of the van Genuchten-Mualem (VGM) model in these soils. Soil pore configuration and hydraulic properties were not stable and changed according to the crop sequence and the last crop grown in both sites. For both sites, saturated hydraulic conductivity, K0, water-conducting macroporosity, εma, and flow-weighted mean pore radius, R0ma, increased from the 1st to the 2nd year of the crop sequence, and this was attributed to the creation of water-conducting macropores by the maize roots. The VGM model adequately described the water retention curve (WRC) for these soils, but not the hydraulic conductivity (K) vs tension (h) curve. The ROSETTA function failed in the estimation of these parameters. In summary, mean values of K0 ranged from 0.74 to 3.88 cm h-1. In studies on NT effects on soil physical properties, the crop effect must be considered.

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