Soil Compaction from Wheel Traffic under Three Tillage Systems

A qualidade física de solos agrícolas pode ser afetada pelo sistema de manejo, sendo a magnitude das alterações dependente do tempo de uso do solo e das condições edafoclimáticas. Neste estudo, avaliou-se o efeito de longo prazo (21 anos) dos sistemas de preparo convencional (PC) e plantio direto (PD) sobre propriedades físicas da camada de 0-0,2 m de um Latossolo Bruno alumínico câmbico (629 g kg-1 de argila), em Guarapuava (PR). Em relação à área sob mata nativa, contígua ao experimento e tomada como referência, o cultivo do solo em PC resultou não só no aumento da densidade global (Ds), na resistência do solo à penetração (RP) e na temperatura do solo, mas também na diminuição do diâmetro médio geométrico dos agregados (DMG). A adoção do sistema PD promoveu uma melhoria nas propriedades físicas do solo em comparação ao PC, evidenciada pela diminuição de 9 % (de 1,08 para 0,99 Mg m-3) na Ds em subsuperfície (0,1-0,2 m), de 13 % (de 27,9 para 24,7 ºC) nas temperatura máximas (15 h), na camada de 0-0,05 m; e pelo aumento de 126 % (de 1,6 para 3,7 mm) no DMG dos agregados na superfície do solo (0-0,05 m), e de 26 % (de 0,38 m³ m-3 para 0,48 m³ m-3) no conteúdo de água volumétrica de 0-0,1 m. Por outro lado, o PC e o PD não se diferenciaram quanto aos seus efeitos na porosidade do solo (total, macro e micro), na condutividade hidráulica saturada, na resistência do solo à penetração e no grau de floculação de argila. O rendimento das culturas de soja (18 safras) e milho (4 safras) foi, respectivamente, 42 e 22 % superior em PD do que em PC, o que, possivelmente, reflete a melhoria na qualidade física do solo.

Progressive soil compaction is a disadvantage of intensive tillage. Compaction exerts a negative impact on the physical properties of soil and decreases crop performance. The adverse effects of soil compaction can be mitigated by replacing conventional tillage with simplified tillage techniques. Simplified tillage exerts a protective effect on soil, reduces production costs and preserves agricultural ecosystems. The aim of this study was to determine the influence of compaction and different tillage methods on the bulk density and moisture content of soil. The experimental factors were as follows: Soil compaction before sowing (non-compacted control treatment and experimental treatments where soil was compacted after the harvest of the preceding crop) and four different methods of seedbed preparation in a three-field rotation system (winter oilseed rape, winter wheat, spring barley). The influence of compaction on the bulk density and moisture content of soil varied across the rotated crops and their developmental stages. Soil compaction had no significant effect on the analyzed parameters in the cultivation of winter oilseed rape. In treatments sown with winter wheat, soil compaction resulted in significantly lower soil density and significantly higher soil moisture content. In plots sown with spring barley, soil compaction led to a significant increase in the values of both parameters. The average bulk density of soil after various tillage operations in the examined crop rotation system ranged from 1.49–1.69 g·m−3 (winter oilseed rape), 1.47–1.59 g·m−3 (winter wheat), 1.47–1.61 g·m−3 (spring barley). The bulk density and moisture content of soil were lowest after conventional tillage (control treatment) and higher after simplified tillage. Regardless of soil compaction, the greatest reduction in winter oilseed rape yields was noted in response to skimming, harrowing and the absence of pre-sowing plowing. Spring barley yields were higher in non-compacted treatments, whereas the reverse was observed in winter wheat. Chisel plowing and single plowing induced the greatest decrease in wheat yields relative to conventional tillage. Single plowing significantly decreased the grain yield of spring barley relative to the tillage system that involved skimming and fall plowing to a depth of 25.

We investigated the changes in soil physical properties, such as soil cone index (SCI), soil bulk density (SBD) and soil water content (SWC) in upland rice (Oryza sativa L.) production following rye (Secale cereale L.), hairy vetch (Vicia villosa Roth) and fallow (no cover crop) under different tillage systems (plowing, rotary and minimum tillage) with 4 replications. Field experiments were conducted at the Experimental Farm of Ibaraki University on a Humic Allophane soil (Haplic Andsolos) from Aug. 2002 to Dec. 2004. The main results obtained from these 2 years of field research were as follows:1) The tillage system significantly affected soil water content, with minimum tillage having the greatest effect. Cover crop types also showed significant effects on soil water content, especially for minimum tillage with rye treatment.2) The tillage system also had a significant effect on soil bulk density, with minimum tillage having the greatest compare with other tillage treatment. Cover crop types, however, showed little effect on soil bulk density.3) The tillage system also affected soil hard-ness significantly during the dry paddy rice growing season. SCI was the highest for no. -till treatment, and the lowest for plow tillage treatment. With all the tillage systems, cover crop types also showed significant effects on reducing SCI. SCI showed the lowest value for rye and the highest for fallow.4) These results suggest that cover cropping has some potential for reducing soil hardness without tillage treatment; consequently, cover crops may be effective tools to optimize soil hard-ness in minimum tillage systems.

Field experiments were carried out during 2012 and 2013 cropping seasons on an Alfisol (Oxic Tropuldalf) at Owo in the forest – savanna transition zone of southwest Nigeria to evaluate the effect of different ti llage systems (zero tillage (ZT), ploughing plus harrowing (P+H) and ploughing plus harrowing twice (P+2H), and with or without Tithonia diversifolia mulch (TM) on soil properties, growth and yield of cocoyam. The experiment was laid out in a randomized co mplete block design in a factorial combination of six treatments that were replicated three times. Among the tillage systems, zero tillage had the highest soil moisture content (12.3%), lowest soil temperature (31.8 ° C) and lower soil bulk density (1.36 Mg m - 3 ) and higher total porosity (48.7%) that was similar to P+H. ZT also produced the best values of soil chemical properties, growth and yield of coco yam compared with P+H and P+2H. P+2H had the highest soil bulk density (1.56 Mg m

Tillage system and time post-liquid dairy manure: Effects on runoff, sediment and nutrients losses

Core Ideas Claypan soil properties were minimally affected by tillage and N fertilization after 20 years. Soil organic matter distribution was affected by tillage, but with no apparent net difference. Long‐term tillage and N fertilization did not affect soil bulk density or penetration resistance. Subtle long‐term soil changes may not influence producer choices for tillage and N fertilization. Tillage and nitrogen (N) fertilization systems may affect soil chemical and physical properties, especially long term. This study's objective was to examine the effect of three tillage systems (conventional tillage, reduced tillage, and no‐till) with four N fertilizer treatments on properties of a claypan soil in the eastern Great Plains after 20 yr of cropping. Soil chemical and physical properties were little affected by long‐term tillage and N fertilization. The lack of tillage to distribute soil phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) nutrients within no‐till treatments resulted in lower P and K values below the surface. In no‐till, the accumulation of organic matter in the surface soil (0 to 7.5 cm) was countered by lower organic matter in the 7.5‐ to 15 ‐cm zone, resulting in no net increase compared with the other two tillage systems. Soil bulk density and penetration resistance in the surface 30 cm were unaffected by tillage or N fertilization.

A study was conducted on a tropical Alfisols on the Teaching and Research Farms of University of Ibadan in order to determine the effect of three tillage (no-tillage, minimum and conventional tillage) systems on infiltration of water in the soil. The experiment was a split-plot design with three replications. The results showed that there were significance (p<0.05) differences between the tillage systems in terms of infiltration rate and accumulated infiltration. There were no significance differences between the minimum and conventional tillage systems. However there were significance differences between no-tillage and the other two tillage systems. The minimum tillage system had the highest infiltration rate and accumulated infiltration, while the no-tillage had the lowest values. Farmers wishing to adopt the no-tillage system in this area should incorporate soil management techniques that would reduce erosion because of its low infiltration rate. It has been recommended that based on the results of this study, the minimum tillage system appeared to be the best option for soil and water conservation practices in the area. There were no significance differences in the physical and chemical analysis of the soil among the three tillage systems.

Corn productivity and soil characteristic alterations following transition from conventional to conservation tillage

Prediction of organic potato yield using tillage systems and soil properties by artificial neural network (ANN) and multiple linear regressions (MLR)

Understanding drivers of weed density and diversity is essential for the development of weed management strategies. Here, we compared temporal changes in weed density and diversity under no‐till (NT) and conventional (CONV) tillage systems in cotton–maize rotations on loam, clay loam and sandy loam soils immediately after transition to NT in Kadoma, Zimbabwe. The effect of tillage system on weed density varied through the growth season and was dependent upon soil type and species composition of the weed community. Although weed responses to tillage system varied amongst species, we identified general trend effects on weed density on specific soils. At 3 weeks after crop emergence (WACE), weed density on loam soils was 76% and 96% higher in NT than in CONV during the 2009/2010 and 2010/2011 seasons, respectively, and on clay loam soils it was 37% and 33% higher in NT than CONV, respectively. Weed densities in NT and CONV were similar across all soil types at 6 WACE during the 2009/2010 and 2010/2011 seasons and at 9 WACE in 2009/2010. Tillage system did not affect weed density during the growth season on sandy loam soils. Weed diversity (Shannon index) was at least 75% higher in NT than CONV on loam and clay loam soils at 3 WACE during both seasons. It is likely these increases in weed densities following conversion to NT will exacerbate already prevalent weed management problems in the smallholder sector. Earlier weeding is recommended to suppress weed emergence and reduce likely associated crop yield losses.

Contrasted effects of no-till on bulk density of soil and mechanical resistance

Minimum tillage has been shown to slow early corn (Zea mays L.) growth and reduce grain yields in some soil types and under some climatic conditions. To overcome these limitations, the no‐till (NT) system can be modified by incorporating residues and loosening the soil in a zone over the center of the row while leaving the interrow area untilled. This study compares soil temperatures and corn growth and productivity under zone till (ZT), NT, and conventional tillage (CT) systems in a coarse‐textured soil (Psammentic Hapludalf) located in southwestern Ontario, Canada. Soil temperature at the 4‐cm depth decreased with decreasing tillage intensity from CT to NT during warmer years but was similar in CT and ZT during a cooler year. This resulted in reduced growing degree days in the seed zone with decreasing tillage. Lower soil temperatures in NT did not delay the initiation of corn seedling emergence but did reduce the rate of emergence compared with CT plots. Corn growth rates were found to be similar among tillage systems in the early part of the growing system but were higher for both the ZT and NT systems during late vegetative and early reproductive growth. Grain yields increased as tillage intensity decreased in a year with drier conditions at tasseling but were similar across tillage systems in the other 2 yr. These results suggest that converting a NT system to a ZT system would neither result in significantly higher yields, nor cause a serious grain yield reduction relative to CT.

The article presents the results of the research on soil bulk density and permeability as well as weediness of maize crops at the beginning and end of growing season on average for 2016-2019, applying different basic tillage and fertilizer systems. The goal of the research was to determine the effect of different methods and depth of basic tillage and fertilizers on agrophysical properties of soil and crop productivity in grain-row crop rotation when irrigating in the south of Ukraine. The objective of the research was to determine the effects of different methods and depths of basic tillage as well as fertilization on the agrophysical properties of dark chestnut soil and the productivity of corn in short crop rotation. During the experiment, field, quantitative-weight, visual, laboratory, calculation-comparative, mathematical-statistical methods and generally accepted in Ukraine methods and methodical recommendations were used. The research was conducted in the research fields of the Askanian SARS IIA NAAS of Ukraine. Based on the research results it was established that, both at the beginning and at the end of grooving season when applying the tillage up to 28-30 cm within the system of differentiated tillage bulk density was the smallest as 1,14 g/cm3 when using green manure and 1,19 g/cm3 without its use. When applying subsurface different depth tillage, bulk density increased up to 1,18 g/cm3 when using green manure and up to 1,26 g/cm3 without its use. Maximum bulk density of 1,28 g/cm3 was observed when no tillage applied without using green manure and 1,31 g/cm3 when using it that is by 12,3 and 10.1% higher compared to the reference area, respectively. The highest corn productivity was observed when applying subsurface different depth tillage, where the average values by the factor A were about 10,93 t/ha that is higher than those obtained in the reference area by 0,52 t/ha, or 5,0%. The use of zero tillage caused the obtaining of the lowest yield in the experiment as 8,71 t/ha that is less compared to the reference area by 1,7 t/ha, or 19,5%.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of different soil tillage systems and groundcover crops intercropped with orange trees on soil enzyme activities. The experiment was performed in an Ultisol soil in northwestern Paraná State. Two soil tillage systems were evaluated [conventional tillage (CT) across the entire area and strip tillage (ST) with a 2-m strip width] in combination with various groundcover vegetation management systems. Soil samples were collected after five years of experimental management at a depth of 0-15 cm under the tree canopy and in the inter-row space in the following treatments: (1) CT-Calopogonium mucunoides; (2) CT-Arachis pintoi; (3) CT-Bahiagrass; (4) CT-Brachiaria humidicola; and (5) ST-B. humidicola. The soil tillage systems and groundcover crops influenced the soil enzyme activities both under the tree canopy and in the inter-row space. The cultivation of B. humidicola provided higher amylase, arylsulfatase, acid phosphatase and alkaline phosphatase than other groundcover species. Strip tillage increased enzyme activities compared to the conventional tillage system.

The experiments were conducted in clay soil at the Agricultural Research Station of University of Basrah (Karmat Ali Campus) in July 2022. The study aimed to assess the effect of various tillage systems on soil compaction, grain yield, and energy use efficiency in maize production. The experiment was organized in a complete randomized block design (RCBD) with four tillage systems namely: CTm (moldboard plow + spike teeth rollers), CTs (chisel plow + disk harrow), DP (subsoiler + spike teeth rollers), and RT (disk harrow + spike teeth rollers). Results indicated that deep tillage (DP) gave the lowest soil penetration resistance value of 1.15 MPa compared to CTm, CTs, and RT by 26.75, 20.69, and 40.41% respectively. Soil penetration resistance was increased by 46.56% at the end of the season compared to the beginning season. The results also showed that DP and RT exhibited the highest and lowest maize grain yield values of 5820 and 4225 kg respectively. Energy analysis showed that DP recorded the highest energy efficiency of 8.02% and a net energy value of 85082.27 MJ ha-1. In contrast, the RT system obtained the lowest energy consumption efficiency of 6.29% and a net energy value of 59347.54 MJ ha-1. Irrigation and fuel-oil consumption are the most energy-intensive inputs. The results showed that DP is significantly efficient in productivity and energy use efficiency in maize production. DP was the most effective strategy to increase maize yield and energy efficiency, making it the most favourable option for field performance in maize farming.