Conventional tillage

This paper considers features underlying conservation-effective agricultural systems' impacts, because they can explain present successes, suggest guidelines for future initiatives, and indicate criteria for judging their effectiveness. Once farmers have made the transition in awareness, thinking and practice of Conservation Agriculture (CA), positive benefits which attract farmers include savings in time, labour, energy and expenditure, with increased productivity and profit

A two year field experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of different tillage methods on soil physical properties and crop yield of watermelon. Tillage treatments in the study were moldboard plow + two passes of disk harrow as conventional tillage (CT), two passes of disk harrow as reduced tillage (RT), one pass of disk harrow as minimum tillage (MT) and no-tillage (NT) as direct drilling method. The statistical results of the study indicated that tillage method significantly (P≤0.05) affected crop yield, fruit weight, fruit length, fruit diameter and total soluble solids, but there was no significant differences in other components such as number of plants per hectare, number of fruits per plant, root length and root dry matter. The maximum value of crop yield (21.11 t ha), number of plants per hectare (2730), fruit weight (5.15kg), fruit diameter (20.3cm), root length (42.0cm) and root dry matter (54.1%) was observed in case of CT treatment, while maximum value of numbe...

In laboratory experiments, earthworms are often observed to burrow through compacted soil layers, leading to the general assumption that these animals play a significant role in regenerating compacted soils in agricultural plots. To demonstrate this role under field conditions, the abundance of earthworm macropores inside compacted zones was estimated on plots under reduced (RT) or conventional tillage (CT). Then, different

The minimum tillage soil systems ― paraplow, chisel or rotary grape ― are polyvalent alternatives for basic preparation, germination bed preparation and sowing, for fields and crops with moderate loose requirements being optimized technologies for soil natural fertility activation and ...

4 Abstract: A study to improve soil fertility and farm productivity under intensive crop-dairy smallholder farming systems was carried out in Kiambu District, central Kenya highlands in the period 2003-2005 using farmer field school approach. The objectives of the study were to diagnose farming system constraints and assess the contribution of livestock to soil nutrient balances, design and test potential

Advances in laboratory instrumentation and chemometrics provide alternatives to traditional methods of conducting soil chemical analysis. One of these is infrared diffuse reflectance spectroscopy in the near-infrared spectral range (NIRS). Herein we report the results of a multinational study to develop useful calibrations associating NIRS spectra with laboratory-measured results for total soil carbon (C), total soil nitrogen (N), δ13C, and δ15N from a single soil site in Mexico subjected to zero- and conventional-tillage regimens with and without crop residues and crop rotations of maize and wheat across 16 years. Modified partial least squares regression (MPLS) was used to obtain useful NIR predictions for total soil C and N, with ratio performance deviation (RPD) values of 6.8 and 2.6, respectively. Corresponding multiple correlation coefficients (RSQs) for C and N were 0.98 and 0.85, with standard errors of prediction (SEPs) of ±0.45 g C kg–1 and ±0.09g Nkg–1, respectively. The generation of δ15N and δ13C models produced different NIR recordings in soils with and without crop residues. Application of discriminant partial least squares (DPLS) statistics to the NIR spectral data allowed us to discriminate soils with and without residues. The prediction confidence for stable isotopes was 90% (internal validation) and 94% (external validation). Modified partial least squares regression was used to estimate δ15N and δ13C. Ratio performance deviation, RSQ, and SEP values obtained for δ13C and δ15N were 2.44 and 3.57, 0.83 and 0.81, ±0.5‰ (parts per thousand) and ±0.45‰ in soils with residues and 2.5 and 3.8, 0.93 and 0.92, and ±0.2‰ and ±0.23‰ in soils without residues, respectively. Overall, results obtained with NIRS were comparable to those obtained using conventional analytical methods, a finding that has wide relevance to agricultural soils and environmental studies in tropical locations. However, further testing is necessary to confirm that the calibration models are neither site nor instrument specific.

The relations between soil pore structure induced by tillage and infiltration play an important role in flow characteristics of water and solutes in soil. In this study, we assessed the effect of long-term use of various tillage systems on pore size distribution, areal porosity, stained (flow-active) porosity and infiltration of silt loam Eutric Fluvisol. Tillage treatments were: (1) ploughing to

The relation between crop growing and soil tillage treatment are play important role in agricultural production. Soils under conventional tillage (CT) generally have lower bulk density and associated higher total porosity within the plough layer than under no tillage (NT). No-till farming can reduce soil erosion, conserve soil moisture and minimize labor and fuel consumption. The aim of this study were to investigate the effects of conventional, reduced and no- tillage methods on soil physical properties, sunfl ower yield and yield components, protein and oil content and fuel consumption in Southeastern of Turkey. Six tillage methods for the second crop sunfl ower were tested and compared each other within after lentil harvesting at 2003 and 2004 years in a clay loam soil. According to results, the fi rst year, the bulk density had decreased from 1.29 to 1.09 g cm-3, the second year the δb had decreased from 1.41 to 1.23 g cm-3. Differences between years and tillage methods in terms...