scholarly journals Soil Physical Properties and Potato Yield in No-till, Subsurface-till, and Conventional-till Systems

1999 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 240-247 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charlotte Mundy ◽  
Nancy G. Creamer ◽  
L. George Wilson ◽  
Carl R. Crozier ◽  
Ronald D. Morse

Conservation tillage using residue from a cover crop grown before potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) production has been infrequently and inconclusively studied. The objectives of this study were to 1) conduct a field study to evaluate soil physical properties, and potato growth and yield, in conventional-tillage (CT), no-tillage (NT), and subsurface-tillage (SST) systems and 2) conduct a greenhouse study to evaluate the effect of soil bulk density (ρb) on potato growth and yield. Potatoes (`Atlantic') were planted into residue of sorghum-sudangrass [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench × S. sudanense (Piper) Staph] at two sites in eastern North Carolina—Plymouth into Portsmouth fine sandy loam and Lewiston into Norfolk sandy loam. Potatoes in the NT and SST system emerged more slowly than potatoesplanted conventionally. There were no differences in plant population or size by 8 weeks after planting at Plymouth, but plant population and size were less in NT and SST systems at Lewiston. Reducing tillage also affected soil compaction, increased soil moisture early in the season at both sites, and increased ρb at Lewiston. Yield of U.S. No. 1 potatoes planted in NT and SST systems were comparable to potatoes planted in a CT system at Plymouth, but were less than potatoes planted in a CT system at Lewiston. There were no differences in yield between potatoes planted with NT and SST. In the greenhouse study, ρb did not affect leaf area or tuber yield or tuber grade. Specific sites and soils may allow for comparable potato production with no or SST, but further research, conducted on different soil types would promote further understanding of the impacts of reducing tillage in potato production.

Soil Research ◽  
1992 ◽  
Vol 30 (5) ◽  
pp. 789 ◽  
Author(s):  
IJ Packer ◽  
GJ Hamilton ◽  
TB Koen

A long-term tillage trial was conducted (1981 to 1987) on loamy textured soils to quantify changes in runoff, soil loss and some soil physical properties due to conservation tillage practices. Two sites were established, one at Cowra on a sandy loam textured soil, and the other at Grenfell on a loamy textured soil. The tillage treatments imposed were direct drilling (DD), reduced tillage (RT) and traditional tillage (TT), with grazing at both sites, and a direct drilling ungrazed (NT) treatment at Cowra only. Runoff and soil loss were measured using a rainfall simulator, and sorptivity (S), saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ksat), bulk density to 40 mm (BD4) and 100 mm (BD10), organic carbon (OC) and water stable aggregates (WSA) were measured annually. Runoff decreased significantly in the minimum soil disturbance treatments (NT and DD) at Cowra. Runoff did not decrease in the stubble incorporation treatments despite a significant increase in OC and WSA. Decreases in runoff were due to the development and maintenance of porosity, particularly macropores. Changes in other soil physical properties were generally not significant owing to temporal variability. The regression relationship between OC and WSA, although significant, had little practical value because of high prediction error. Although improvements in soil physical properties were measured, a period of at least five years of cropping at both sites was required before they became significant and consistent.


2014 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 1281-1292 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luis Alberto Lozano ◽  
Carlos Germán Soracco ◽  
Vicente S. Buda ◽  
Guillermo O. Sarli ◽  
Roberto Raúl Filgueira

The area under the no-tillage system (NT) has been increasing over the last few years. Some authors indicate that stabilization of soil physical properties is reached after some years under NT while other authors debate this. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of the last crop in the rotation sequence (1st year: maize, 2nd year: soybean, 3rd year: wheat/soybean) on soil pore configuration and hydraulic properties in two different soils (site 1: loam, site 2: sandy loam) from the Argentinean Pampas region under long-term NT treatments in order to determine if stabilization of soil physical properties is reached apart from a specific time in the crop sequence. In addition, we compared two procedures for evaluating water-conducting macroporosities, and evaluated the efficiency of the pedotransfer function ROSETTA in estimating the parameters of the van Genuchten-Mualem (VGM) model in these soils. Soil pore configuration and hydraulic properties were not stable and changed according to the crop sequence and the last crop grown in both sites. For both sites, saturated hydraulic conductivity, K0, water-conducting macroporosity, εma, and flow-weighted mean pore radius, R0ma, increased from the 1st to the 2nd year of the crop sequence, and this was attributed to the creation of water-conducting macropores by the maize roots. The VGM model adequately described the water retention curve (WRC) for these soils, but not the hydraulic conductivity (K) vs tension (h) curve. The ROSETTA function failed in the estimation of these parameters. In summary, mean values of K0 ranged from 0.74 to 3.88 cm h-1. In studies on NT effects on soil physical properties, the crop effect must be considered.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Zanutel ◽  
Sarah Garré ◽  
Charles Bielders

<p>In the context of global soil degradation, biochar is being promoted as a potential solution to improve soil quality, besides its carbon sequestration potential. Burying biochar in soils is known to effect soil physical quality in the short-term (<5 years), and the intensity of these effects depends on soil texture. However, the long-term effects of biochar remain largely unknown yet and are important to quantify given biochar’s persistency in soils. The objective of this study was therefore to assess the long-term effect of biochar on soil physical properties as a function of soil texture and biochar concentration.  For this purpose, soil physical properties (particle density, bulk density, porosity, water retention and hydraulic conductivity curves) were measured in the topsoil of three fields with former kiln sites containing charcoal more than 150 years old in Wallonia (southern Belgium).  The fields had a silt loam, loam and sandy loam texture.  Samples were collected along 3 transects in each field, from the center of the kiln sites outwards. </p><p>Particle density and bulk density slightly decreased as a function of charcoal content. Because particle density and bulk density were affected to a similar extent by charcoal content, total porosity was not affected by the presence of century-old charcoal. Regarding the soil water retention curve, charcoal affected mostly water content in the mesopore range. This effect was strongest for the sandy loam. On the other hand, the presence of century-old charcoal increased significantly the hydraulic conductivity at pF between 1.5 and 2 for the silt loam, while no effect of charcoal was observed for the loamy soil.  The study highlights a limited effect of century-old charcoal on the pore size distribution (at constant porosity) and on the resulting soil physical properties for the range of soils and charcoal concentrations investigated here.  Further research may be needed to confirm the observed trends over a wider range of soil types. </p>


AGRICA ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 38-43
Author(s):  
Ketut Turaini Indra Winten

The low of growth and yield of lettuce is quite often caused by the low of soil fertility, especially nitrogen and C-organic content. Poor soil physical properties also contribute to the cause of low yield of lettuce. Improved soil physical and chemical properties by adding casting fertilizers and nitrogen are expected to be able to increase the yields of lettuce. The field experiment was conducted in Candikuning village, district of Baturiti, Tabanan regency, from October 2005 to January 2006. The objective of the experiment was to study the effect of casting fertilizer and nitrogen rates on the growth and yields of lettuce. A randomized complete block design was used in this experiment and two treatment factors were imposed. Those two treatment factors were rates of casting fertilizers (i.e. 0, 10, 20 and 30 t ha"1 ) and rates of N (i.e. 0, 92, 138 and 184 kg N ha"1), which were arranged factorially and repeated three times. Results of the experiment indicated that interaction between casting fertilizer and nitrogen rates did not significantly affect the yields of lettuce. The rates of N only significantly affected several growth variables and the oven-dry weight of heads plant-1. Increased rates of N from 0 to 92 kg N ha-1 significantly resulted in the oven-dry weight of heads of 2.798 g plant-1 which was 13.9% higher than that of 0 kg N ha-1. Rates of casting fertilizer significantly affected head diameter and the oven-dry weight of heads plant"1 and ha-1. Increased rates of casting fertilizer from 0 to 10 t ha-1 gave the oven-dry weight of heads as much as 0.232 t ha"1 or 9.43% higher than the weight given by the rate of 0 t ha-1. The effects of rates of casting fertilizer and N were only significant on several soil physical properties. The relationship between rates of casting fertilizer and yields of lettuce was quadratic (Y = 0.21135 + 0.0032 X - 0.001 X2 ; R2 = 0.981). The optimum rate of casting fertilizer was 16.0 t ha-1 with the maximum oven-dry weight of heads of 0.237 t ha-1, meanwhile, the optimum rate of N had not obtained in this experiment.


2011 ◽  
Vol 48 (No. 6) ◽  
pp. 249-254 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Husnjak ◽  
D. Filipović ◽  
S. Košutić

An experiment with five different tillage systems and their influence on physical properties of a silty loam soil (Albic Luvisol) was carried in northwest Slavonia in the period of 1997–2000. The compared tillage systems were: 1. conventional tillage (CT), 2. reduced tillage (RT), 3. conservation tillage I (CP), 4. conservation tillage II (CM), 5. no-tillage system (NT). The crop rotation was soybean (Glycine max L.) – winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) – soybean – winter wheat. Differences between tillage systems in bulk density, total porosity, and water holding capacity and air capacity were not significant in winter wheat seasons. In soybean seasons, significant differences between some tillage systems were recorded in bulk density, total porosity, air capacity and soil moisture. The deterioration trend of physical properties was generally increasing in the order CM, CT, CP, NT and RT. The highest yield of soybean in the first experimental year was achieved under CT system and the lowest under CP system. In all other experimental years, the highest yield of winter wheat and soybean was achieved under CM system, while the lowest under RT system.


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