Effect of tillage and stubble management on soil water storage, crop growth and yield in a wheat-lupin rotation in southern NSW

1996 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 479 ◽  
Author(s):  
KY Chan ◽  
DP Heenan
Keyword(s):  
Soil Water ◽  
Water Storage ◽  
Early Growth ◽  
Growth And Yield ◽  
Soil Water Storage ◽  
Wheat Crop ◽  
Yield Reduction ◽  
Wagga Wagga ◽  
Deep Drainage ◽  
Direct Drilling

The effects of tillage (conventional tillage v. direct drilling) and stubble management (stubble retained v. stubble burnt) on soil water storage, growth and yield of wheat were assessed over two seasons (1989-1990) in a wheat-lupin rotation on a red earth at Wagga Wagga, NSW. Soil water storage and efficiency of water use were different for the two seasons. Both direct drilling and stubble retention maintained the soil surface (0-0.1 m) at higher water content at sowing time. However, their effectiveness in increasing soil water storage at sowing was evident only in the 1990 season which, with average rainfall during the summer fallow, was drier than 1989. Average wheat grain yield was similar (4.02 v. 4.08 t/ha) for the two seasons even though the 1989 season had 245 mm more rain, the difference mainly occurring in March-April. Most of the excess water in seasons like 1989 was likely to have been lost by deep drainage, with implications for leaching of soluble nutrients, increasing subsoil acidity and rising watertables. Poor early growth of wheat when the stubble was retained and the crops direct drilled was season dependent. It was observed in the wheat crop only in the 1989 season which had a wet autumn. In that season, poor early growth which resulted in a significant yield reduction of 0.5 t/ha was associated with reduced water extraction before anthesis despite the availability of adequate soil water. No corresponding differences in growth and yield were observed for the lupin crop.

scholarly journals Subsoiling and Sowing Time Influence Soil Water Content, Nitrogen Translocation and Yield of Dryland Winter Wheat

Agronomy ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 37 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yan Liang ◽  
Shahbaz Khan ◽  
Ai-xia Ren ◽  
Wen Lin ◽  
Sumera Anwar ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Winter Wheat ◽  
Grain Yield ◽  
Soil Water ◽  
Loess Plateau ◽  
Water Storage ◽  
Soil Water Storage ◽  
Yield Reduction ◽  
Sowing Time ◽  
N Accumulation

Dryland winter wheat in the Loess Plateau is facing a yield reduction due to a shortage of soil moisture and delayed sowing time. The field experiment was conducted at Loess Plateau in Shanxi, China from 2012 to 2015, to study the effect of subsoiling and conventional tillage and different sowing dates on the soil water storage, Nitrogen (N) accumulation, and remobilization and yield of winter wheat. The results showed that subsoiling significantly improved the soil water storage (0–300 cm soil depth) and increased the contribution of N translocation to grain N and grain yield (17–36%). Delaying sowing time had reduced the soil water storage at sowing and winter accumulated growing degree days by about 180 °C. The contribution of N translocation to grain yield was maximum in glume + spike followed by in leaves and minimum by stem + sheath. Moreover, there was a positive relationship between the N accumulation and translocation and the soil moisture in the 20–300 cm range. Subsoiling during the fallow period and the medium sowing date was beneficial for improving the soil water storage and increased the N translocation to grain, thereby increasing the yield of wheat, especially in a dry year.

scholarly journals Impact of Subsoiling and Sowing Time on Soil Water Content and Contribution of Nitrogen Translocation to Grain and Yield of Dryland Winter Wheat

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sumera Anwar ◽  
Yan Fei Liang ◽  
Shahbaz Khan ◽  
Zhi-qiang Gao
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Winter Wheat ◽  
Soil Water ◽  
Loess Plateau ◽  
Water Storage ◽  
Shanxi Province ◽  
Soil Water Storage ◽  
Yield Reduction ◽  
Sowing Time ◽  
N Accumulation

Dryland winter wheat in Loess Plateau is facing yield reduction due to shortage of soil moisture and delayed sowing time. Field experiment was conducted at Loess Plateau in Shanxi Province, China from 2012 to 2014, to study the effect of subsoiling and conventional tillage and different sowing dates on the soil water storage and contribution of N accumulation and remobilization to yield of winter wheat. The results showed that subsoiling significantly improved the soil water storage at 0-300 cm depth, improved the number of tillers and pre-anthesis N translocation in various organs of wheat and post-anthesis N accumulation, eventually increased the yield up to 17-36%. Delaying sowing time had reduced the soil water storage at sowing and winter accumulated temperature by about 180˚C. The contribution of N translocation to grain yield was maximum in glume+spike followed by in leaves and minimum by stem+sheath. In addition a close relationship was found between the N accumulation and translocation and the soil moisture in the 20-300 cm. Subsoiling during the fallow period and the medium sowing date was beneficial for improving the soil water storage and increased the N translocation to grain, thereby increasing the yield of wheat, especially in dry year.

Effects of lupin on soil properties and wheat production

1993 ◽  
Vol 44 (8) ◽  
pp. 1971 ◽  
Author(s):  
KY Chan ◽  
DP Heenan
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Soil Organic Matter ◽  
Soil Properties ◽  
Soil Water ◽  
Wheat Yield ◽  
Soil Water Storage ◽  
Wheat Crop ◽  
Wagga Wagga ◽  
Organic Carbon Content ◽  
Wheat Production

Effect of lupin on wheat production and soil properties was evaluated on a red earth, at Wagga Wagga, N.S.W. Soil physical and chemical properties as well as soil surface aggregate stability, soil water distribution and extraction by wheat crops from a 10-year-old wheat/lupin (WL) rotation were compared with those of continuous wheat (WW), with (WW+N) and without (WW-N) nitrogen fertilizer application. Averaged wheat yield over the 1989-1990 period was 4.17, 2.95 and 3.06 t ha-1 respectively for WL, WW-N and WW+N. Despite the higher yield, important changes in soil properties have been detected in the soil under wheat/lupin rotation when compared with that under continuous wheat. The major effect was surface soil acidification and an associated loss of cations. Ten years of WL, compared with WW-N resulted in 0.2 unit reduction in pH (4 -35 v. 4.55) in 0.10-0.15 m with corresponding increases in extractable A1 and losses in exchangeable Ca2+ (17% as present in WW-N) and Mg+2 (12%). In the continuous wheat, annual application of 100 kg N ha-1 as urea resulted in much greater acidification (by 0.48 pH unit from 4.63 to 4.15 at 0.05-0.10 m) and larger losses in Ca2+ (up to 40%) and Mg2+ (up to 52%) in the top 0.2 m. Ten years of WL rotation reduced K+ by 10% in the top 0.2 m layer compared with both of the continuous wheat rotations, presumably due to higher export of K in lupin grains. Inclusion of lupin in the rotation also resulted in differences in the quality of soil organic matter. Despite similar total soil organic carbon content to WW-N, in the top 0.1 m, soil organic matter under WL had lower C/N ratio and higher polysaccharide content. Lower macroaggregate stability was found under WL compared to WW-N, but this did not result in lower soil water storage over the summer fallow during the two seasons of measurement. However, the wheat crop under WW utilized less stored subsoil water than that under WL, even under conditions of moisture stress.

scholarly journals Soil water storage and groundwater behaviour in a catenary sequence beneath forest in central Amazonia: I. Comparisons between plateau, slope and valley floor

1997 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 265-277 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. G. Hodnett ◽  
I. Vendrame ◽  
A. De O. Marques Filho ◽  
M. D. Oyama ◽  
J. Tomasella
Keyword(s):  
Soil Water ◽  
Water Table ◽  
Water Storage ◽  
Dry Season ◽  
Valley Floor ◽  
Soil Water Storage ◽  
High Porosity ◽  
Wet Season ◽  
Deep Drainage ◽  
Shallow Water Table

Abstract. Soil water storage was monitored in three landscape elements in the forest (plateau, slope and valley floor) over a 3 year period to identify differences in sub-surface hydrological response. Under the plateau and slope, the changes of storage were very similar and there was no indication of surface runoff on the slope. The mean maximum seasonal storage change was 156 mm in the 2 m profile but it was clear that, in the dry season, the forest was able to take up water from below 3.6 m. Soil water availability was low. Soil water storage changes in the valley were dominated by the behaviour of a shallow water table which, in normal years, varied between 0.1 m below the surface at the end of the wet season and 0.8 m at the end of the dry season. Soil water storage changes were small because root uptake was largely replenished by groundwater flow towards the stream. The groundwater behaviour is controlled mainly by the deep drainage from beneath the plateau and slope areas. The groundwater gradient beneath the slope indicated that recharge beneath the plateau and slope commences only after the soil water deficits from the previous dry season have been replenished. Following a wet season with little recharge, the water table fell, ceasing to influence the valley soil water storage, and the stream dried up. The plateau and slope, a zone of very high porosity between 0.4 and 1.1 m, underlain by a less conductive layer, is a probable route for interflow during, and for a few hours after, heavy and prolonged rainfall.

The effect of surface treatments on soil water storage and yield of wheat

1972 ◽  
Vol 12 (56) ◽  
pp. 299 ◽  
Author(s):  
JE Schultz
Keyword(s):  
Soil Water ◽  
Water Storage ◽  
South Australia ◽  
Heavy Rain ◽  
Surface Treatments ◽  
Soil Water Storage ◽  
Wheat Crop ◽  
Surface Sealing ◽  
Water Recharge ◽  
Chemical Fallow

Soil water changes under six pre-seeding surface treatments and the following wheat crop were recorded at three- to four-weekly intervals in two consecutive seasons (1966-67 and 1967-68) on a hard setting red-brown earth in South Australia. The treatments were 'fallow' (initial cultivation in spring, nine months before sowing), 'grassland' (initial cultivation in autumn, two months before sowing), 'chemical fallow' (sprayed with herbicides in spring), and three fallows separately modified with gypsum, straw and hexadecanol. In both experiments grassland lost water rapidly in spring and this lower water content was never completely restored. The fallow + straw gave the biggest recharge of soil water following rain and the highest water storage efficiency during the fallow period. In 1966-67, recharge of soil water followed rain in summer at a time of high evaporation rates. The effectiveness of the treatments in increasing soil water storage was related to their ability to reduce evaporation. In 1967-68, soil water recharge occurred in autumn when evaporation rates were low. The effectiveness of the treatments was then related to their ability to curb surface sealing by raindrop impact. Nitrate-N contents in the top 60 cm of soil at seeding were higher in 1967 than 1968, probably due to efficient mineralization in 1967 after summer rain, and leaching by heavy rain and denitrification before seeding in 1968. Crops on the fallow + straw treatment used most water and produced the highest wheat yields with the highest water-use efficiency in both years.

Deep infiltration - Significant or not

Soil Research ◽  
1989 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 471
Author(s):  
J Brouwer
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Water Balance ◽  
Soil Water ◽  
Water Storage ◽  
Soil Water Storage ◽  
Deep Drainage ◽  
Balance Problem ◽  
Deep Infiltration ◽  
Improved Pasture

For those involved with evaluating the effects on the water balance of changes in land use, it is always interesting and pleasing to see a report on a study involving paired catchments. One such report was presented by Prebble and Stirk (1988). From their study, Prebble and Stirk concluded that the killing of trees and establishment of improved pasture in an open grassy woodland did not affect evapotranspiration. While this result was not quite what they expected, they thought it could be explained by the fact that the killing of the trees resulted in an increase in wind run and in radiation to the grass. This in turn would have increased evapotranspiration from the grass, which would have compensated for the reduction in interception and evapotranspiration by the trees. This explanation, to some extent, ignores the observed increase in average soil water storage following the death of the trees. Perhaps, then, the answer to this water balance problem lies not in the evapotranspiration term, but in the increased soil water storage and associated increased deep drainage.

Drainage and change in soil water storage below the root-zone under long fallow and continuous cropping sequences in the Victorian Mallee

2003 ◽  
Vol 54 (7) ◽  
pp. 663 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark G. O'Connell ◽  
Garry J. O'Leary ◽  
David J. Connor
Keyword(s):  
Soil Water ◽  
Root Zone ◽  
Sandy Loam ◽  
Water Storage ◽  
Soil Water Storage ◽  
Annual Rainfall ◽  
Continuous Cropping ◽  
Deep Drainage ◽  
Mean Annual Rainfall ◽  
Fallow System

A field study investigated drainage and changes in soil water storage below the root-zone of annual crops on a sandy loam soil in the Victorian Mallee for 8 years. It was designed to compare the effects of the common long (18-month) fallow in a 3-year rotation (fallow–wheat–pea, FWP) with a rotation in which the fallow was replaced with mustard (Brassica juncea), viz. mustard–wheat–pea (MWP). Drainage was measured over 2 periods (1993–98 and 1998–2001) using 9 in situ drainage lysimeters in each rotation. The first period of ~5 years was drier than average (mean annual rainfall 298 cf. 339 mm) and drainage was low and variable. Drainage was greater under the fallow rotation (average 0.24 mm/year) than under the non-fallow rotation (average <0.01 mm/year). The result for the fallow rotation did, however, include one lysimeter that recorded substantial drainage (10.6 mm over the 5 years). During the second period of measurement (~3 years), rainfall was above average (mean annual rainfall 356 cf. 339�mm) and drainage was greater. On average, drainage from the fallow rotation was 6.7 mm/year compared with the non-fallow rotation at 4.0 mm/year. There was again substantial variation between lysimeters. One lysimeter under MWP recorded 31.4 mm/year, and as in the earlier drier period, there were many lysimeters that recorded no drainage. During the drier first period (1993–98), changes in soil water storage between 1.5 and 5.5 m depth confirmed the tendency of the fallow rotation to increase deep drainage. Despite increases and decreases in subsoil water storage during the study, the cumulative change in water storage was positive and greatest under FWP (range: 2.8–14.8 mm/year, ave. 9.6 mm/year) compared with MWP (range: 5.3–9.8 mm/year, ave. 7.4 mm/year) cropping sequences. Overall, the long fallow system has the potential to increase deep drainage by approximately 2 mm/year compared with a fully cropped system, over a wide annual rainfall range (134–438 mm). Further, this experiment reinforces the focus for the reduction of fallow practices for dryland salinity control in the Mallee region.

The effect of improved pastures and grazing management on soil water storage on a basaltic plains site in south-west Victoria

2004 ◽  
Vol 44 (6) ◽  
pp. 559 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. R. Bird ◽  
T. T. Jackson ◽  
G. A. Kearney ◽  
G. R. Saul ◽  
R. A. Waller ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Water ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Perennial Ryegrass ◽  
Water Storage ◽  
Grazing Management ◽  
Soil Water Storage ◽  
Deep Drainage ◽  
Crop Species ◽  
Gravelly Soil ◽  
The Impact

Soil salinity of non-irrigated farmlands in Australia has been largely attributed to tree clearing and their replacement by annual pasture and crop species. This paper deals with the effects of sowing perennial ryegrass and greater inputs of fertiliser, and the effect of grazing management, on water use and the potential to improve recharge control on a gravelly soil derived from basalt.In 1991, neutron access tubes were inserted into plots on a project established in 1989 to examine the impact of upgrading the pasture on sheep productivity. These plots were subdivided in 1996 to examine the impact of grazing management (tactical v. set-stocking) and pasture type (pastures dominated by annual species v. upgraded pastures) on productivity. Neutron probe readings were taken periodically from tubes in each plot, at depth intervals of 25 cm (December 1991–March 1995) or 20 cm (August 1995–April 1999) to 170 cm. There was no effect of treatment on soil moisture. Data for 2 wet years (1995 and 1996) indicate that the effective soil-water storage capacity to 170 cm depth for these pastures was a mean of 125 mm of water. This represents the potential buffer before winter rainfall exceeds the water use by the pasture, fills the soil profile to capacity and then either runs off or allows deep drainage to occur.We did not achieve a significant reduction in soil-water storage, and therefore potential recharge of groundwater, by re-sowing the pasture with perennial ryegrass and applying more fertiliser, or by altering the grazing management to a form of rotational grazing. Compared with set-stocked annual pasture, the impact of such treatments was to reduce soil-water storage to a depth of 170 cm in autumn by less than 20 mm/year. There was no association between total herbage production and soil-water storage, however an increased percentage of perennial ryegrass in the pasture was associated with a small reduction in soil-water storage in 1 year. Greater use of soil-water may depend upon using deeper-rooted perennials or maintaining a higher proportion of perennial species in the sward (the perennial ryegrass in the re-sown pastures declined from 53% in October 1996 to 4% in October 1998).

Tillage practices and the growth and yield of wheat in southern New South Wales: Yanco, in a 425 mm rainfall region

1988 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 223 ◽  
Author(s):  
RA Fischer ◽  
IB Mason ◽  
GN Howe
Keyword(s):  
Soil Water ◽  
Water Status ◽  
Grain Filling ◽  
Early Growth ◽  
Growth And Yield ◽  
Nitrogen And Phosphorus ◽  
Plant Nitrogen ◽  
Stubble Retention ◽  
Direct Drilling ◽  
Growth Differences

In a comparison of tillage treatments over a 3 year cropping phase (1982-84) following clover ley on a red-brown earth soil, long (9 months) and short (3 months) cultivated fallow gave the highest average wheat yields (2.80 t/ha). Cultivated fallow in year 1, followed by direct drill without fallow in years 2 and 3 yielded 2.66 t/ha, while direct drill without fallow every year averaged 2.43 t/ha (full disturbance at sowing) or 2.25 t/ha (minimum disturbance). Stubble retention when combined with direct drilling reduced yield further. Herbicide fallow followed by direct drilling gave the same yield as cultivated fallow in 1 year but a lower yield in another. Long fallow accumulated significantly more total soil water and mineral nitrogen in 2 years out of 3, while short fallow had no effect in any year. Plant population and early growth were reduced each year by the absence of fallow and by direct drilling, and also by residue retention; plant nitrogen and phosphorus status also tended to be reduced. In the absence of soil water differences at sowing and in the wetter 2 years, final grain yield differences, although always relatively smaller than early growth differences, were related to these differences in early growth which, it is concluded, reflect the main underlying cause of reduced yield with direct drilling. Reductions occurred even with a dry spring when direct drilled crops had clearly better soil and plant water status. In the driest year (1982) yield differences were small despite early growth differences. Sowing of all treatments was delayed in 2 years out of 3 because of top soil dryness in no-fallow plots. Some cultivated fallow crops showed a tendency to 'hay off' (i.e. markedly reduced harvest index and kernel weights) when the grain filling period was dry. The incidence of yellow leaf spot (Pyrenophora tritici repentis) and root diseases, although low, was greater in direct drilled crops, even after stubble burning.

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