Tillage practices can change moisture content, nutrient retention and
soil properties and so affect crop growth and significantly influence
soil stability. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the
effects of tillage practices (conventional tillage, CT; soil compaction,
CM; subsoil tillage, ST; no tillage, NT; and subsoil tillage and soil
compaction, SCM) on soil stability in a hilly region of red soil in
China. The parameters of soil stability were soil aggregate stability
(SAS), wet aggregate stability (WAS), and soil mechanical stability
(SMS). These parameters are closely related to soil erodibility (SE).
The results indicated that SAS, WAS, SMS and SE varied significantly
across the five tillage methods. The aggregate stability indexes (ASI)
of CM (2.64) and CT (2.61) were greater than for other methods, which
indicates that CM increased the compactness of soil particles and that
the soil structure for NT was relatively stable and less disturbed than
for other methods. NT and CM significantly increased soil shear strength
(SS) and soil compactness (SC) compared to other methods. NT
significantly increased soil resistance to erosion compared to other
methods, with K factor = 0.26. NT (ASI = 0.43) had the greatest soil
stability and resistance to erosion (SSE), followed by SCM (ASI = 0.41),
for which ASI can potentially be increased. The results provide
reference parameter values for selecting a suitable tillage method to
reduce soil erosion and improve soil productivity in red soil sloping
farmland.