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.

Water use, growth and yield of wheat in a subtropical environment

1980 ◽  
Vol 31 (5) ◽  
pp. 873 ◽  
Author(s):  
JF Angus ◽  
HA Nix ◽  
JS Russell ◽  
JE Kruizinga
Keyword(s):  
Soil Water ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Soil Water Potential ◽  
Soil Surface ◽  
Grain Filling ◽  
Growth And Yield ◽  
Yield Potential ◽  
Yield Response ◽  
Nitrogen And Phosphorus ◽  
Partial Explanation

Wheat crops in southern Queensland grown on two different clay soils were studied in terms of growth, development, water economy, and uptake of nitrogen and phosphorus in a season when growing season rainfall was only 50 mm. No significant grain yield response to either nitrogen or phosphorus was detected, although growth response in the vegetative phase was apparent. Mean grain yields on the two soils were 254 and 277 g m-2. These are underestimates of yield potential because of losses due to a mouse plague. Mean yield inside metal mouse exclosures was 303 g m-2. On the higher-yielding site the water use determined from augered soil samples was 192 mm, comprising 50 mm of rain during the 139 days of crop growth and 142 mm of soil water conserved during the preceding summer. The pattern of water extraction was sequential removal of the stored water, starting from the soil surface and extending to a depth below 90 cm. Soil water potential after flowering reached well below - 15 bars. The water use efficiency for grain production was 1.58 g m-2 mm-1 of evapotranspiration, which is higher than most other reports for wheat crops found in the literature. A partial explanation for this high value is that most of the soil water (est. 86%) was transpired by the crop with only a minor proportion (14 %) lost by bare soil evaporation. In addition, the crop appeared to become progressively more adapted to water stress from early in the life cycle, and this stress resulted in slow extraction of subsoil water held at low potentials and therefore in conservation of soil water until the grain-filling phase. The results are discussed by comparing them with those of a crop grown mostly on current rainfall.

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 Rooting Depth, Growth and Yield of Sorghum as Affected by Soil Water Availability in an Ultisol and an Oxisol

1969 ◽  
Vol 60 ◽  
pp. 329-335
Author(s):  
A. Wahab ◽  
H. Talleyrand ◽  
M. A. Lugo-López
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Plant Growth ◽  
Soil Water ◽  
Grain Filling ◽  
Growth And Yield ◽  
Rooting Depth ◽  
Weather Factors ◽  
Soil Water Tension ◽  
Available Soil Moisture ◽  
Water Tension

Grain and stover yields of RS 671 grain sorghum were measured at Barranquitas in an Oxisol and at Corozal in an Ultisol. Measurements were made of weather factors, soil moisture content and tension, plant growth, water deficits and rooting depths. At each site a plot was irrigated as often as necessary to maintain a soil water tension of less than 1 bar. Nonirrigated plots at Corozal were watered whenever necessary to prevent plants from wilting permanently. During a prolonged drought and at grain filling, sorghum extracted water in the Oxisol to a depth of 120 cm. Plants became water stressed after the soil water tension at a depth of 90 cm reached 15 bars. In the Ultisol, sorghum plants were unable to effectively extract available soil moisture at depths below 45 cm. Both plant growth and grain yield were greater in the Oxisol than in the Ultisol. The relative soil compaction of the Ultisol was greater than that of the Oxisol.

Reduced growth and yield of wheat with conservation cropping. I. Field studies in the first year of the cropping phase

1994 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 511 ◽  
Author(s):  
JA Kirkegaard ◽  
JF Angus ◽  
PA Gardner ◽  
W Muller
Keyword(s):  
Shoot Growth ◽  
Plant Density ◽  
Root Zone ◽  
Field Studies ◽  
Growth And Yield ◽  
Rooting Depth ◽  
First Year ◽  
Mineral N ◽  
Stubble Retention ◽  
Direct Drilling

An experiment was conducted on a red earth at Harden, N.S.W., to investigate the effects of tillage and stubble management on the growth and yield of wheat in the first year of conservation cropping. Treatments involved stubble-management systems of incorporation, burning or retention combined with tillage systems of either direct drilling or minimum tillage. The experiment was conducted on an oat stubble of 3.9 t ha-1. Direct drilling and stubble retention both reduced seedling growth by 15%, compared to cultivated and stubble burnt treatments, but had no effect on plant density or tillering. The effects on shoot growth were additive and persisted until maturity, leading to grain yields which varied from 2.16 t ha-1 for the stubble-mulched, direct-drilled treatment to 3.20 t ha-1 for the burned-stubble, minimum-till treatment. Direct drilling reduced the total root length in the profile (0-160 cm) at anthesis by 40%, but there was no effect of stubble retention. Reduced shoot growth and rooting depth on direct-drilled and stubble-retained treatments reduced the recovery of water and mineral N by the crop and increased the leaching of mineral N below the root zone. Early shoot growth reductions on direct-drilled plots were not related to levels of soil water, mineral nitrogen (N) or soil temperature. Reduced shoot growth was associated with increased severity of Rhizoctonia in some direct drilled plots, but growth reductions often occurred in the absence of obvious symptoms. High soil strength (>2 MPa) in the top 10 cm of soil may have contributed to reduced growth, although the exact mechanism remains unclear. Reduced growth associated with the presence of stubble was not caused by immobilization of N or increased leaf disease, although reduced soil temperatures may have been partly responsible.

Soil water status influences plant nitrogen use: a case study

2007 ◽  
Vol 301 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 303-313 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhi-You Yuan ◽  
Ling-Hao Li
Keyword(s):  
Soil Water ◽  
Water Status ◽  
Nitrogen Use ◽  
Plant Nitrogen ◽  
Soil Water Status

Effects of row spacing on growth and grain yield of early and late sorghum cultivars

1988 ◽  
Vol 28 (6) ◽  
pp. 771 ◽  
Author(s):  
S Fukai ◽  
MA Foale
Keyword(s):  
Water Status ◽  
Dry Weight ◽  
Grain Filling ◽  
Growth And Yield ◽  
Row Spacing ◽  
Higher Plant ◽  
Double Row ◽  
Severe Water Deficit ◽  
Narrow Row ◽  
Sorghum Bicolor L

The effects of row spacing on growth and yield of grain sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench.) were investigated at a constant population density using 5 cultivars of different duration to flowering under dryland conditions in south-eastern Queensland. The row spacings were narrow (0.33 m), standard (1.0 m), and wide-double (1.67 + 0.33 m). Rainfall was plentiful during the tillering and grain filling stages of growth, but a severe water deficit developed at the boot-anthesis stage. The water stress impaired heading and grain set, and grain dry weight was low (40-190 g m-2), with earlier flowering cultivars producing higher yields. There was a cultivar x row spacing interaction for yield; in the earliest flowering cultivar Texas (610SR), which headed before severe stress developed, there was no significant effect of row spacing while in the other cultivars the yield was highest in double row and least in narrow row. There was no detectable difference in soil water available to the plants at any time during growth, but a slightly higher plant water status and faster phenological development in the wider row plants. These responses are related to the fact that the tiller production was least in double row and therefore individual stems had more water available to them.

Effects of subsurface drainage, cultivation, and stubble retention on soil porosity and crop growth in a high rainfall area

1994 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 411 ◽  
Author(s):  
WK Gardner ◽  
MF Drendel ◽  
GK McDonald
Keyword(s):  
Soil Structure ◽  
Positive Relationship ◽  
Growth And Yield ◽  
Soil Porosity ◽  
Significant Positive Relationship ◽  
Stubble Retention ◽  
Per Se ◽  
Direct Drilling ◽  
Western Victoria ◽  
High Rainfall Area

Wheat, triticale, and rapeseed growth and yield were studied under various tillage (conventional, deep ripping, direct drilling) and stubble-handling (burnt, retained) regimes with and without drainage at Hamilton in south-western Victoria from 1985 to 1987. Grain yield was increased from about 2 to >4 t/ha by drainage in both years; however, effects of other treatments, although significant, were much less. Soil structure (as measured by fractional air-filled porosity at -5 J/kg) deteriorated during winter and recovered during spring and summer. A laboratory experiment showed that this variation in soil structure resulted from saturation per se and redrying. In the field, the decline in porosity was most pronounced with cultivation and the absence of drainage, but overall, the effects of stubble retention and tillage treatments were small. There was a significant positive relationship between yield and porosity on undrained areas, but not where drains were present. Drainage reduced soil structural decline during winter, while stubble retention reduced the decline in porosity in the cultivated-undrained treatment in 1987.

The growth and yield of winter cereals after direct drilling, shallow cultivation and ploughing on non-calcareous clay soils, 1974–8

1980 ◽  
Vol 94 (2) ◽  
pp. 345-359 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Q. Cannell ◽  
F. B. Ellis ◽  
D. G. Christian ◽  
J. P. Graham ◽  
J. T. Douglas
Keyword(s):  
Nitrogen Fertilizer ◽  
Grain Filling ◽  
Growth And Yield ◽  
Clay Soils ◽  
Soil Conditions ◽  
Grain Yields ◽  
Winter Cereals ◽  
Direct Drilling ◽  
Additional Nitrogen

SummaryThe effects of direct drilling, shallow cultivation and ploughing on the growth of winter cereals (wheat and oats) are reported for the first 4 years of long-term experiments on two non-calcareous clay soils (stagnogleys), representative of soils occupying a large proportion of the cereal growing area of the U.K. These 4 years have been characterized by extreme contrasts in rainfall and wetness of the soil.On a Lawford series soil, with 35% clay, although the treatments affected average grain yields none of the differences was large. With additional nitrogen fertilizer, the yield after direct drilling was significantly heavier by 6% than after ploughing. On the Denchworth series, with 50% clay, 4 year average yields were also similar after direct drilling and ploughing, but in individual years the treatments had large effects. In two wet years grain yields after direct drilling were 89 and 82% of those after ploughing, but in another year they exceeded by 16% those after ploughing, where lodging had restricted grain filling. In the unusually dry season of 1975–6 yields of winter wheat after direct drilling exceeded those after ploughing (by 14 and 6% on the Lawford and Denchworth soils respectively) and this was attributed to greater availability of water and deeper rooting in the spring. In a year of heavy wheat yields (1977–8) about 10t/ha was achieved on both soils irrespective of the method of cultivation. In this year, after prolonged wet soil conditions in winter, the response to additional nitrogen fertilizer was greater after direct drilling and shallow cultivation than after ploughing.The concentration of nitrogen in the crops tended to be smaller throughout the growing season after direct drilling than after ploughing, especially on the Denchworth soil in the wettest season. The method of cultivation had no effect on the uptake of either phosphorus or potassium except on the heavier soil in the wettest year, when potassium uptake was restricted after direct drilling.The results are discussed in relation to information on soil conditions and root growth also being obtained in these experiments.

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