• Authors:
    • Schomberg, H. H.
    • Franzluebbers, A. J.
    • Endale, D. M.
  • Source: Soil & Tillage Research
  • Volume: 96
  • Issue: 1/2
  • Year: 2007
  • Summary: The type of conservation-tillage management employed could impact surface-soil properties, which could subsequently affect relationships between soil and water quality, as well as with soil C sequestration and greenhouse gas emissions. We determined soil bulk density, organic C and N fractions, plant-available N, and extractable P on Typic Kanhapludults throughout a 7-year period, in which four long-term (>10 years), no-tillage (NT) water catchments (1.3-2.7 ha each) were divided into two treatments: (1) continuation of NT and (2) paraplowing (PP) in autumn (a form of non-inversion deep ripping) with NT planting. Both summer [cotton ( Gossypium hirsutum L.), maize ( Zea mays L.), sorghum ( Sorghum bicolor L. Moench), soybean ( Glycine max L. Merr.)] and winter [wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.), barley ( Hordeum vulgare L.), rye ( Secale cereale L.), crimson clover ( Trifolium incarnatum L.)] crops were NT planted throughout the study under each management system. Soil bulk density was reduced with PP compared with NT by as much as 0.15 Mg m -3, but the extent of reduction was inversely related to the time lag between PP operation and sampling event. Soil organic C became significantly enriched with time during this study under NT (0.49 Mg C ha -1 year -1), but not under PP, in which poultry litter was applied equivalent to 5.7 Mg ha -1 year -1 to all water catchments. Soil maintained a highly stratified depth distribution of organic C and N fractions and extractable P under both NT and PP. Inability to perform the PP operation in the last year of this study resulted in rapid convergence of soil bulk density between tillage systems, suggesting that PP had
  • Authors:
    • Anderson, R. L.
  • Source: Weed Technology
  • Volume: 21
  • Issue: 2
  • Year: 2007
  • Summary: Weed management is evolving to include cultural tactics that reduce weed populations. This study near Brookings, SD, evaluated the effect of crop sequence and tillage on seedling emergence of common sunflower across years. In the third and fourth years of the study, seedling density was sevenfold greater after 2 yr of soyabean with tillage compared with a 2-yr sequence of canola and winter wheat with no-till. Apparently, canola and winter wheat enhanced the natural decline of common sunflower seed density in soil, leading to fewer seedlings in following years. In the first year of the study, tillage increased seedling emergence of common sunflower compared with no-till; seedlings rarely emerged in canola or winter wheat. Most seedlings of common sunflower emerged in May, with more than 90% of seedlings emerging between May 7 and June 4. Cool-season crops grown with no-till may affect weed seed survival in soil in the western Corn Belt.
  • Authors:
    • Kahlown, M. A.
    • Azam, M.
    • Kemper, W. D.
  • Source: Journal of Soil and Water Conservation
  • Volume: 61
  • Issue: 1
  • Year: 2006
  • Summary: Conventional management practices for the rice-wheat rotation in Pakistan's Punjab have failed to improve crop yield, increase water and fertilizer use efficiencies, and decrease production costs enough to meet an ever-increasing food demand. New technologies such as no-till, laser leveling, and bed and furrow irrigation are being rapidly adopted by the farming community, but without adequate scientific information. Therefore, those practices were evaluated on 71 farms within four representative sites. Land preparation/sowing costs, water savings, use of fertilizers, soil salinity, and crop yield were evaluated. Land preparation and sowing cost on no-till fields was significantly less than on tilled fields. Highest yields were obtained on laser-leveled fields, followed by no-till, bed and furrow fields. Water and nitrogen use efficiencies were much higher on fields with bed and furrow irrigation as compared to the conventional fields. Although the new technologies were economically feasible, we conclude that no-till was the best option for the farmers.
  • Authors:
    • Nielsen, D. C.
    • Vigil, M. F.
    • Benjamin, J. G.
  • Source: Agronomy Journal
  • Volume: 98
  • Issue: 4
  • Year: 2006
  • Summary: Forages, with greater water use efficiency (WUE) than grain and seed crops, could be used to diversify reduced and no-till dryland cropping systems from the traditional wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.)-fallow system in the semiarid central Great Plains. However, farmers need a simple tool to evaluate forage productivity under widely varying precipitation conditions. The objectives of this study were to (i) quantify the relationship between crop water use and dry matter (DM) yield for corn ( Zea mays L.), foxtail millet ( Setaria italica L. Beauv.), and winter triticale ( X Triticosecale Wittmack); and (ii) determine the range and distribution of expected DM yields for these three crops in the central Great Plains based on historical precipitation records. The three crops were grown in a dryland no-till corn-millet-triticale sequence from 1998 through 2004 at Akron, CO. Dry matter production was linearly correlated with water use for all three crops, with regression slopes ranging from 24.2 (corn) to 33.0 kg ha -1 mm -1 (millet). Water use efficiency varied widely from year to year (0-32.2 kg ha -1 mm -1) for the three crops, as influenced by growing season precipitation and time of year in which the crops were grown. Millet and triticale produced similar amounts of DM for a given water use, while corn produced less. Precipitation use efficiency for the millet-triticale-corn forage system was 8.7 kg ha -1 mm -1, suggesting this as an efficient forage system for the region.
  • Authors:
    • Pala, M.
  • Source: Options Mediterraneennes. Serie A, Seminaires Mediterraneens
  • Issue: 69
  • Year: 2006
  • Summary: The past several decades have witnessed a change from traditional to more intensive agriculture in dryland farming systems of West Asia and North Africa and also in the transitional period of Central Asia and Caucasus (CAC). These two areas can be combined and called the Central and West Asia and North Africa (CWANA) region, which covers diverse agroecological conditions from mild lowlands (Syria) to cold continental (CAC) and cold highlands (Turkey). This region is a major area of the world where drought invariably limits crop production in approximately 1.7 million ha arable land. Agriculture is primarily based on rainfed cropping during the relatively cooler late autumn to early spring as rainfall ranged generally between 200 to 600 mm per year. Dryland crops are mainly wheat, food legumes such as lentil, chickpea, faba beans, and forage legumes such as vetch, medics and lathyrus. Increasing human and livestock population has led desertification and soil degradation in the region. This has led also ICARDA to an assessment of tillage systems for efficiency, enhanced productivity and sustainability of the various farming system changes through a series of long-term trials in the mid 1980s at ICARDA headquarter as well as in the National Agricultural Research Services in close collaboration. Results at ICARDA and the region support a preference for the conservation tillage system (minimum tillage) over deep tillage systems on the grounds of both energy-use efficiency and increased net revenue as direct benefits to livelihood of the rural population. However, whenever available and tested and adopted by farmers with their participatory evaluation as in Central Asia, no-till direct drilling would increase soil organic matter from approximately 0.9% to 1.3% at 0-10 cm top soil and sustain the systems productivity in the long-run on the basis of the initial research results throughout the CWANA region.
  • Authors:
    • Varma, M.
    • Rawat, S.
  • Source: International Journal of Agricultural Sciences
  • Volume: 2
  • Issue: 1
  • Year: 2006
  • Summary: A performance evaluation of zero-till-ferti-seed drill with conventional and reduced tillage method by sowing of wheat ( Triticum aestivum) was conducted, and was compared with the conventional system in terms of economics and energy consumption. The Pantnagar zero-till ferti-seed drill was developed by the G. B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, Uttaranchal, India, and was made of mild steel angle iron 68.0*68.0*8 mm with square cross-section. Spacing between two furrow openers was 22.5 cm having 9 furrows. The treatments were: (T1) disc harrowing *2 + cultivation with planking *1 + planking *1 + seeding by seed-cum-ferti-drill; (T2) disc harrowing *1 + cultivating with planking *1 + planking *1 + seeding by seed-cum-ferti-drill; and (T3) zero-till-ferti-seed-drill. The initial moisture content and bulk density were maximum in T3. The field capacity of zero-till-ferti-seed-drill was found slightly higher than other treatments, but field efficiency was less due to presence of crop residue and no seedbed preparation. Fuel consumption in tillage and seeding system was very less i.e. 5.88 l/ha in T3 system in comparison to other treatments which indicates much saving of fuel in zero-till-ferti-seed-drill system. Wheat crop can be grown 10-15 days early that will result in timing sowing of wheat wheat crop and increases in yield. Another advantages of zero tillage is that it reduces cost of irrigation which was more economical in comparison to conventional method of sowing.
  • Authors:
    • Waddell, J.
    • Lenssen, A.
    • Sainju, U. M.
    • Caesar-Tonthat, T.
  • Source: Soil Science Society of America Journal
  • Volume: 70
  • Issue: 2
  • Year: 2006
  • Summary: Sustainable management practices are needed to enhance soil productivity in degraded dryland soils in the northern Great Plains. We examined the effects of two tillage practices [conventional till (CT) and no-till (NT)], five crop rotations [continuous spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) (CW), spring wheat-fallow (W-F), spring wheat-lentil (Lens culinaris Medic.) (W-L), spring wheat-spring wheat-fallow (W-W-F), and spring wheat-pea (Pisum sativum L.)fallow (W-P-F)], and a Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) on plant biomass returned to the soil, residue C and N, and soil organic C (SOC), soil total N (STN), and particulate organic C and N (POC and PON) at the 0- to 20-cm depth. A field experiment was conducted in a mixture of Scobey clay loam (fine, smectitic, frigid Aridic Argiustolls) and Kevin clay loam (fine-loamy, mixed, superactive, frigid Aridic Argiustolls) from 1998 to 2003 near Havre, MT. Mean annualized plant biomass returned to the soil from 1998 to 2003 was greater in W-F (2.02 Mg ha(-1)) than in W-L and W-W-F, regardless of tillage. In 2004, residue cover was greater in CW (60%) than in other rotations, except in W-W-E Residue amount and C and N contents were greater in NT with CW (2.47 Mg ha(-1) and 963 and 22 kg ha(-1), respectively) than in NT with W-L and CT with other crop rotations. The POC at 0 to 5 cm was greater in W-W-F and W-P-F (2.1-2.2 Mg ha(-1)) than in W-L. Similarly, STN at 5 to 20 cm was greater in CT with W-L (2.21 Mg ha(-1)) than in other treatments, except in NT with W-W-E Reduced tillage and increased cropping intensity, such as NT with CW and W-L, conserved C and N in dryland soils and crop residue better than the traditional practice, CT with W-F, and their contents were similar to or better than in CRP planting.
  • Authors:
    • Lenssen, A.
    • Caesar-Thonthat, T.
    • Waddell, J.
    • Sainju, U. M.
  • Source: Journal of Environmental Quality
  • Volume: 35
  • Issue: 4
  • Year: 2006
  • Summary: Long-term use of conventional tillage and wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)-fallow systems in the northern Great Plains have resulted in low soil organic carbon (SOC) levels. We examined the effects of two tillage practices [conventional till (CT) and no-till (NT)], five crop rotations [continuous spring wheat (CW), spring wheat-fallow (W-F), spring wheat-lentil (Lens culinaris Medic.) (W-L), spring wheat-spring wheat-fallow (W-W-F), and spring wheat-pea (Pisum sativum L.)-fallow (W-P-F)], and Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) planting on plant C input, SOC, and particulate organic carbon (POC). A field experiment was conducted in a mixture of Scobey clay loam (fine-loamy, mixed, Aridic Argiborolls) and Kevin clay loam (fine, montmorillonitic, Aridic Argiborolls) from 1998 to 2003 in Havre, MT. Total plant biomass returned to the soil from 1998 to 2003 was greater in CW (15.5 Mg ha(-1)) than in other rotations. Residue cover, amount, and C content in 2004 were 33 to 86% greater in NT than in CT and greater in CRP than in crop rotations. Residue amount (2.47 Mg ha(-1)) and C content (0.96 Mg ha(-1)) were greater in NT with CW than in other treatments, except in CT with CRP and W-F and in NT with CRP and W-W-E The SOC at the 0- to 5-cm depth was 23% greater in NT (6.4 Mg ha(-1)) than in CT. The POC was not influenced by tillage and crop rotation, but POC to SOC ratio at the 0- to 20-cm depth was greater in NT with W-L (369 g kg(-1) SOC) than in CT with CW, W-F, and W-L. From 1998 to 2003, SOC at the 0- to 20-cm depth decreased by 4% in CT but increased by 3% in NT. Carbon can be sequestered in dryland soils and plant residue in areas previously under CRP using reduced tillage and increased cropping intensity, such as NT with CW, compared with traditional practice, such as CT with W-F system, and the content can be similar to that in CRP planting.
  • Authors:
    • Shivani
    • Mishra, S.
    • Singh, V.
    • Sanjeev, K.
  • Source: Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences
  • Volume: 76
  • Issue: 9
  • Year: 2006
  • Summary: A field experiment was conducted in Bihar, India during the winter of 2002-04 to determine the effects of irrigation and tillage on the soil-water-plant relationship and productivity of maize cv. Deoki. The treatments included disc ploughing + 2 harrowing + planking (T1), 2 cultivator + planking (T2), rotavator (T3) and zero-till planter (T4), in combination with 3 irrigations during the pre-knee height of the crop (30 days after sowing (DAS)), knee height and silking stages (I1), I1 + irrigation during the milking stage (I2), irrigation during the pre-knee height, knee-height, tasseling, milking and grain filling stages (I3) and irrigation during the pre-knee height, knee height, tassel initiation, silking, milking and grain filling stages (I4). The physical properties of the soil of rotavator-tilled plots recorded higher bulk density (1.33 and 1.30 mg/m 3), soil strength (2.10 and 2.05 MPa), infiltration rate (0.420 and 0.432 cm/ha) and porosity (49.81 and 50.94%) during 2002-03 and 2003-04, respectively. Plant height (189.33 and 190.07 cm), leaf area index (2.673 and 2.728) dry matter accumulation (369.77 and 392.78 g) and relative leaf water content (94.61 and 93.36%) were highest with rotavator tilling during 2002-03 and 2003-04. Plants receiving 5-6 irrigations exhibited superior crop yield and yield attributes. Rotavator-tilled maize showed higher water expense efficiency compared to plants under different tillage systems. Rotavator tilled maize irrigated 5-6 times recorded the highest grain yield (5831 and 5960kg/ha) and net returns (Rs. 16 173 and Rs. 17 493) during 2002-03 and 2003-04, respectively.
  • Authors:
    • Sankar, G.
    • Vittal, K.
    • Chary, G.
    • Ramakrishna, Y.
    • Girija, A.
  • Source: Indian Journal of Dryland Agricultural Research and Development
  • Volume: 21
  • Issue: 1
  • Year: 2006
  • Summary: The data of 48 field experiments conducted during 1999 to 2003 under on-station conditions for assessing the tillage requirements of 5 cereals (rice, wheat, maize, pearl millet and finger millet), 2 oilseeds (groundnut and soyabean) and one pulse crop (cluster bean) under different soil and climatic conditions at 13 centres of All India Coordinated Research Project for Dryland Agriculture are presented. Based on the data generated from field experiments with conventional tillage, low tillage + hand weeding and low tillage + herbicide application, a detailed statistical assessment of superiority of tillage practices was conducted. Results indicated that conventional tillage was superior at Bangalore, Karnataka for finger millet under semiarid Alfisols; peal millet under semiarid Vertisols of Solapur, Maharashtra and arid Inceptisols of Agra, Uttar Pradesh; rice under moist subhumid Oxisols of Phulbani, Orissa and dry subhumid Inceptisols of Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh; maize under dry subhumid Inceptisols of Rakh Dhiansar, Jammu and Kashmir; wheat under moist subhumid Inceptisols of Ballowal Saunkhri, Punjab; and soyabean under semiarid Vertisols of Indore, Madhya Pradesh. Low tillage + herbicide application was found to be superior for rice under humid Oxisols of Ranchi, Jharkhand; maize under dry subhumid Inceptisols of Ballowal Saunkhri; soyabean under moist subhumid Vertisols of Rewa; and cluster bean under semiarid Aridisols of Dantiwada. LOw tillage + hand weeding was found to be superior for pearl millet under semiarid Aridisols of Hisar, Haryana and groundnut under semiarid Alfisols of Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh.