Poor Early Growth of Wheat Under Direct Drilling

1987 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 791 ◽  
Author(s):  
KY Chan ◽  
JA Mead ◽  
WP Roberts
Keyword(s):  
Shear Strength ◽  
Root Growth ◽  
Biological Properties ◽  
Early Growth ◽  
Undisturbed Soil ◽  
Growth Difference ◽  
Physical Measurements ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Direct Drilling ◽  
Chemical Fallow

Poor early growth of wheat under direct drilling on a hardsetting duplex soil was studied in the light of a range of soil physical and biological properties. Two systems of direct drilling were included in the study: one with a short fallow maintained by herbicide (chemical fallow), and another in which a fallow period was absent and herbicide was applied 1 week before sowing (nil fallow). Plant measurements indicated that the poor early growth observed under both direct drilled systems, as compared to that under conventional cultivation, was not due to poor germination or poor emergence. Rather, it was shown to be a consequence of reduced growth after establishment. Weight per plant measured 64 days after sowing for the conventional, chemical and nil fallow treatments was found to be in the ratio of 3.2: 1.8 : 1.0, respectively. Soil physical measurements during the 9 weeks from sowing indicated that moisture availability was unlikely to be an important factor affecting the observed growth difference for the particular season. Much higher bulk density (1.66 versus 1.35 Mg/m3 at 50-100 mm) and vane shear strength values were found in the undisturbed soil between the drill rows in the top 100 mm of the two direct drilled treatments. Vane shear strength measured in the top 50 mm layer of the direct drilled plots was up to 2.9 times higher between the drill rows than in the drill rows. The poor vegetative growth on the chemical fallow plots was probably caused by restricted root growth in the denser and stronger 0-100 mm depth of undisturbed soil. The poor early vegetative and root growth of wheat in the nil fallow could not be fully explained by the soil physical properties, but indicated the presence of other root inhibitory factors. Our results suggest that one such factor is the presence of inhibitory Eacteria on the roots.

Effects of direct drilling on soil conditions and root growth

1975 ◽  
Vol 8 (1_suppl) ◽  
pp. 227-232 ◽  
Author(s):  
R Scott Russell ◽  
R Q Cannell ◽  
M J Goss
Keyword(s):  
Root Growth ◽  
Pore Size Distribution ◽  
Pore Size ◽  
Root System ◽  
Soil Structure ◽  
Early Growth ◽  
Nutrient Supply ◽  
Soil Conditions ◽  
Organic Debris ◽  
Direct Drilling

Direct drilling affects the pore size distribution in the soil, the distribution of organic debris on and within the soil, and the soil structure. These changes in turn affect the development of the root system of the crop, with consequential changes on its nutrient supply and early growth.

Tillage-induced differences in the growth and distribution of wheat-roots

1992 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 19 ◽  
Author(s):  
KY Chan ◽  
JA Mead
Keyword(s):  
Root Growth ◽  
Root Length ◽  
Root Distribution ◽  
Shoot Growth ◽  
Surface Soil ◽  
Root Length Density ◽  
Soil Layer ◽  
Soil Conditions ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Direct Drilling

Root growth and distribution of wheat under different tillage practices was studied in a 4-year-old tillage experimental site at Cowra, N.S.W. Tillage affected root density as well as distribution. Up to 98 days after sowing, root length density was lower (P < 0.05) in the 0.05-0.10 m layer of the direct-drilled soil than the conventionally cultivated soil. Poor root growth found in direct-drilled soils, which was significantly related to the poor shoot growth, was not caused by soil physical conditions, viz. higher bulk density and soil strength. Rather, biological factors were involved because fumigation completely eliminated the poor shoot growth and significantly increased root length density of the direct drilled soils. Compared to a compaction treatment, roots grown under direct drilling, in addition to having lower density, also had impaired function. Under conventional cultivation, significantly lower root length density was found in the surface soil layer (0-0.05 m) and maximum root length density was found in the 0-05-0.10 m layer. Fumigation did not change the root distribution pattern. This tillage-induced difference in root distribution reflected less favourable surface soil conditions as a result of cultivation, e.g. seedbed slumping, compared to the soil under direct drilling.

The effect of soil compaction and fumigation on poor early growth of wheat under direct drilling

1989 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 221 ◽  
Author(s):  
KY Chan ◽  
JA Mead ◽  
WP Roberts ◽  
PTW Wong
Keyword(s):  
Soil Compaction ◽  
Conventional Treatment ◽  
Shoot Growth ◽  
Dry Weight ◽  
Early Growth ◽  
Soil Fumigation ◽  
Biological Factors ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Direct Drilling ◽  
Micro Organisms

Poor early growth of wheat was studied in a tillage experiment at Cowra, N.S.W., in the 1986 season to determine the involvement of soil physical and biological factors in this problem. A compaction treatment to achieve bulk density and shear strength comparable with those detected in the direct-drilled soils was imposed on the conventionally cultivated soil. Soil fumigation was used to investigate the significance of biological factors in causing poor early growth. In the absence of fumigation, the dry weight per plant 98 days after sowing for the direct-drill treatments was approximately a third of the conventional treatment. The fumigation treatment was effective in completely eliminating the poor early growth observed in the direct-drilled soils. No significant reduction in shoot growth was detected as a consequence of the compaction treatment, despite a reduction in root growth to the level detected in the nil fallow. The results suggest that poor early growth was caused by micro-organisms present in the direct-drilled soils.

The influence of forest site on rate and extent of soil compaction and profile disturbance of skid trails during ground-based harvesting

2000 ◽  
Vol 30 (8) ◽  
pp. 1196-1205 ◽  
Author(s):  
J R Williamson ◽  
W A Neilsen
Keyword(s):  
Root Growth ◽  
Soil Compaction ◽  
Forest Type ◽  
Soil Bulk Density ◽  
Parent Material ◽  
Forest Site ◽  
Undisturbed Soil ◽  
Soil Parent Material ◽  
Wet Forests

Soil compaction has been considered a principal form of damage associated with logging, restricting root growth and reducing productivity. The rate and extent of soil compaction on skid trails was measured at six field locations covering a range of dry and wet forests. Data was collected for up to 21 passes of a laden logging machine. A similar extent of compaction, averaging 0.17 g·cm-3 increase in total soil bulk density (BD), was recorded for all field sites despite substantial site and soil differences. On average, 62% of the compaction in the top 10 cm of the soil occurred after only one pass of a laden logging machine. The environment under which soils had formed played a major role in determining the BD of the undisturbed soil. Compaction was strongly related to the original BD, forest type, and soil parent material. Soil strengths obtained in the field fell below levels found to restrict root growth. However, reduction in macropores, and the effect of that on aeration and drainage could reduce tree growth. On the wettest soils logged, machine forces displaced topsoils rather than causing compaction in situ. Recommended logging methods and implications for the development of sustainability indices are discussed.

The effects of direct drilling, shallow cultivation and ploughing on some soil physical properties in a long-term experiment on spring barley

1985 ◽  
Vol 104 (1) ◽  
pp. 125-133 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Chaney ◽  
D. R. Hodgson ◽  
M. A. Braim
Keyword(s):  
Spring Barley ◽  
The Other ◽  
Clay Loam ◽  
Average Value ◽  
Structural Problems ◽  
Physical Measurements ◽  
Long Term Experiment ◽  
Direct Drilling ◽  
Air Capacity

SummaryPhysical measurements were made on the soil of a long-term cultivation experiment comparing direct drilling, tine cultivation and mouldboard ploughing for spring barley to investigate possible reasons for differences in yield. The soil was a typical argillio brown earth, approximately 90 cm of sandy clay loam topsoil and clay loam subsoil overlying magnesian limestone. For the three periods 1971–4, 1975–7 and 1978–80 the mean grain yields were marginally lower after direct drilling than after shallow cultivation or ploughing. There was an average decline in yield of 1·33 t/ha from the first to the last period, the decline being greater for direct drilling than the other two tillage systems. Although the surface horizon (0–5 cm) of direct-drilled soil had a higher content of organic matter than the ploughed, this did not increase the stability of the aggregates. Slaking tests had shown the soil to be inherently unstable and likely to suffer from structural problems. After the first 3 years bulk density of direct-drilled soil (0–15 cm) increased markedly to ca. l·5 g/cm8 and then remained relatively stable. In the ploughed soil, density increased steadily over the period to an average value of co. 1·45 g/cm8. Tine cultivation to 7–8 cm reduced cone resistance values in the surface compared with direct-drilled soil but below 15 cm there were no significant differences. Ploughing gave significantly lower values than direct drilling to a depth of 30 cm. Measurements of pore sizes in direct-drilled and ploughed soil were highly variable with few significant differences. Mean air capacity values (1978–80) tended to be lower in direct-drilled than in ploughed topsoil particularly for plots direct drilled after 7 years of deep tine cultivation. A limited number of root measurements in 1978 and 1980 showed that the length of root per unit of ground area was much less after direct drilling than after ploughing. Shallow cultivation, surprisingly, gave most root with a greater proportion of the root system below 20 cm than in the other two treatments. The classification of this soil according to its suitability for direct drilling cereals is discussed.

Lime-slotting technique to ameliorate subsoil acidity in a clay soil II. Effects on medic root-growth, water extraction and yield

Soil Research ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 443 ◽  
Author(s):  
NS Jayawardane ◽  
HD Barrs ◽  
WA Muirhead ◽  
J Blackwell ◽  
E Murray ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Root Growth ◽  
Soil Water ◽  
Surface Area ◽  
Dry Matter ◽  
Acid Soil ◽  
Water Extraction ◽  
Undisturbed Soil ◽  
Subsoil Acidity ◽  
Soil Water Extraction ◽  
Limed Soil

Subsoil acidity causes low crop production, which is often associated with shallow root development and restricted soil water extraction. In part I of this series, lime-slotting of an acid soil was shown to improve the soil physical and chemical characteristics for root growth. In a lysimeter study on an acid soil, the effects of several soil ameliorative treatments on root growth, water extraction and yields of a medic crop were evaluated. Large lysimeter cores of 0.75 m diameter and 1.35 m deep were used. The soil treatments included a non-ameliorated acid soil, lime-slotting with a 0.15 m wide and 0.8 m deep slot containing 20 t ha-1 of lime, lime-slotting combined with surface phospho-gypsum application at 10 t ha-1, and complete amelioration of the entire soil volume by mixing lime at 133 t ha-1 and repacking to a low bulk density of 1.1 t m-3. In the non-ameliorated acid soil, medic roots were confined to the surface (0.1 m) layer, resulting in limited water extraction of 32 mm during a prolonged drying cycle, and a low dry matter yield of 70 g m-2. In the lime slotted soil, roots grew within the slot to its full depth, although penetration into the undisturbed soil was restricted to the soil immediately adjacent to the slot. Consequently, the root length per unit surface area (La) at depths below 0.1 m depth was increased to 9.9 km m-2. During a drying cycle, water extraction increased to 58 mm. The increased water extraction came from both the slotted soil and the undisturbed soil between slots. This led to an increase in dry matter yields to 270 g m2. In lime-slotted soils with surface gypsum applications, the root growth and crop water extraction patterns were similar to the lime-slotted soil. Repacking limed soil resulted in similar root lengths (L(a) 10.0 km m-2) as lime-slotted soil. However, owing to more uniform distribution of roots in the repacked soil, water extraction was increased to 100 mm and yields increased to 590 g m-2. Yields of non-ameliorated soil were only 12% of the repacked, limed soil. However, lime-slotting which involves loosening only 25% of the soil surface area and addition of only one-sixth of the amount of lime required for complete soil amelioration, led to marked increases in yield (46% of the yield of repacked soil). Future field studies are required to evaluate the optimum limed-slot configurations required for different soils, crops and climatic regimes.

Cropping practices in the Victorian Mallee. 1. Effect of direct drilling and stubble retention on the water economy and yield of wheat

1993 ◽  
Vol 33 (7) ◽  
pp. 877 ◽  
Author(s):  
M Incerti ◽  
PWG Sale ◽  
GJ O'Leary
Keyword(s):  
Crop Yield ◽  
Wheat Yield ◽  
Production Costs ◽  
Research Station ◽  
Stubble Retention ◽  
Conservation Farming ◽  
Direct Drilling ◽  
Chemical Fallow ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Lower Production

Two experiments were conducted at the Mallee Research Station, Walpeup, between 1985 and 1989 to evaluate the impact of conservation farming practices on wheat yields. The first experiment compared wheat crops established by direct drilling into a chemical fallow with those conventionally sown into a cultivated fallow. Over the 5 years, yields ranged from 1.31 to 3.24 t/ha, and there was no reduction in crop yield associated with chemical fallowing and direct drilling compared with the cultivated fallow. There was also no significant effect of the chemical fallow on the amount of water conserved in the soil at sowing, at depth 0-100 cm; the range was 206-274 mm water. The second experiment from 1987 to 1989 examined the effect of maintaining 4 rates of stubble (0, 0.5, 1.0, 2.0 t/ha) on the surface of a conventionally cultivated long fallow. Stubble maintained at 2 t/ha increased the amount of water stored in the soil at sowing, at depth 0-140 cm, by 16 mm in 1 year of 3. This increase in soil water availability was not reflected in increased crop yield. These findings indicate that erosion control and potentially lower production costs associated with direct drilling and stubble retention can be achieved without loss of wheat yield in the Victorian Mallee.

Early growth of planted spruce

1984 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 644-651 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. N. Burdett ◽  
L. J. Herring ◽  
C. F. Thompson
Keyword(s):  
Root Growth ◽  
Shoot Growth ◽  
Slow Release ◽  
Unit Length ◽  
White Spruce ◽  
Early Growth ◽  
Height Growth ◽  
Needle Length ◽  
Growth Capacity ◽  
Root Growth Capacity

Observations were made on the growth of white spruce (Piceaglauca (Moench) Voss) and Engelmann spruce (P. engelmanni Parry), each planted at a single location in the interior of British Columbia. In both species bareroot stock (either 2 + 0 seedlings or 2 + 1 transplants) with a low root growth capacity made only limited height growth during the first two seasons after planting. In the first season, many short stem units were formed, whereas in the second season, stem units were much longer but many fewer. The length of needles formed after planting by the bareroot trees was, in the first season, only about half that of needles formed the previous year in the nursery. Needle length increased slightly in the 2nd year. Container-grown trees (1 + 0 seedlings from 336-mL containers), which had a high root growth capacity, made relatively good height growth in the first season when they formed long needles and stem units. Height growth by these seedlings was much less in the second season, however, as were needle length and stem unit number, but not stem unit length. Application of slow release N,P, and K fertilizer at planting improved shoot growth by bareroot trees more in the second season than the first. In contrast, the container-grown stock made a large shoot growth response to fertilization in both the first and the second seasons. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that, as root establishment proceeds, shoot growth tends to be limited by the supply, first of water, then of mineral nutrients. This implies that the early growth of planted spruce can be maximized by using stock with a high root growth capacity, or other adaptations to drought, and applying slow release fertilizer at planting. Observations on the white spruce revealed an acceleration in shoot growth by both stock types during the third season. This followed the establishment, by the end of the second season, of root systems several metres in diameter. A large difference in height: diameter ratio, observed at the time of planting, between the container-grown and bareroot white spruce disappeared entirely in the course of the first three growing seasons.

Effects of biocides and rotation breaks on soil organisms associated with the poor early growth of sugarcane in continuous monoculture

2005 ◽  
Vol 268 (1) ◽  
pp. 255-269 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. E. Pankhurst ◽  
B. L. Blair ◽  
R. C. Magarey ◽  
G. R. Stirling ◽  
A. L. Garside
Keyword(s):  
Early Growth ◽  
Soil Organisms ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Continuous Monoculture

scholarly journals Early-Stage Phenotyping of Root Traits Provides Insights into the Drought Tolerance Level of Soybean Cultivars

Agronomy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 188
Author(s):  
Elana Dayoub ◽  
Jay Ram Lamichhane ◽  
Céline Schoving ◽  
Philippe Debaeke ◽  
Pierre Maury
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Water Stress ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Canopy Cover ◽  
Early Growth ◽  
Growth Difference ◽  
Controlled Conditions ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Soil Moisture Status ◽  
Root And Shoot Traits

Soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) may contribute to the agro-ecological transition of cropping systems in Europe, but its productivity is severely affected by summer drought. New drought-avoidance cropping strategies, such as early sowing, require cultivars with high early plant growth under suboptimal conditions. This study aims at phenotyping early-stage root and shoot traits of 10 cultivars commonly grown in Europe. Cultivars were grown in minirhizotrons under two soil moisture status in controlled conditions. Root and shoot traits were evaluated at 10 days after sowing. Field early growth of two cultivars was also analyzed under early and conventional sowing dates. A significant intraspecific variability (p < 0.05) was found for most investigated shoot and root morpho-physiological traits regardless of the soil moisture status under controlled conditions. However, no significant difference among cultivars (p > 0.05) was found in terms of root architectural traits that were mainly affected by water stress. Total root length was positively correlated with shoot length and shoot dry matter (p < 0.05). Under field conditions, the differences between cultivars were expressed by the canopy cover at emergence, which determines the subsequent canopy cover dynamics. The significant early growth difference among cultivars was not related to the maturity group. Cultivars characterized by high root depth and length, high root density and narrow root angle could be considered as good candidates to cope with water stress via better soil exploration. New agronomic strategies mobilizing the diversity of cultivars could thus be tested to improve soybean water use efficiency in response to climate change.

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