Mulching and tillage are widely considered to be major practices for improving soil and water conservation where water is scarce. This paper studied the effects of FM (flat mulching), RFM (ridge-furrow mulching), SM (straw mulching), MTMC (mulching with two materials combined), MOM (mulching with other materials), NT (no-tillage) ST (subsoiling tillage) and RT (rotational tillage) on wheat yiel...

Tillage practices and weather affect the release of greenhouse gases but there have been few integrated studies of the quantities released or the mechanisms involved. No-tillage may increase emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O) and the ®xation of carbon by decreasing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Tillage may also decrease the oxidation rate of atmospheric methane (CH4) in aerobic soil. These effe...

Excessive harvest of corn (Zea mays L.) stover for ethanol production has raised concerns regarding negative consequences on soil physical quality. Our objective was to quantify the impact of two tillage practices and three levels of corn stover harvest on near-surface soil physical quality through the Least Limiting Water Range (LLWR). We evaluated no harvest, moderate and high stover harvest ...

Soil management practices, such as tillage method or straw return, could alter soil organic carbon (C) contents. However, the effects of tillage method or straw return on soil organic C (SOC) have showed inconsistent results in different soil/climate/cropping systems. The Yangtze River Delta of China is the main production region of rice and wheat, and rice-wheat rotation is the most important ...

Usually large numbers of measurements are required to describe spatial variability of soil resistance but GIS technology with interpolations methods make it possible to estimate data from unsampled locations. In this paper cone index (CI) measurements were made in two occasions in 2.88 ha fi eld in central Croatia to present soil condition. A commonly used tillage operation consists of ploughin...

Tillage has long been an essential component of traditional agricultural systems. Broadly defined, tillage is the mechanical manipulation of the soil and plant residues to prepare a seedbed for crop planting. The benefits of tillage are many: it loosens soil, enhances the release of nutrients from the soil for crop growth, kills weeds, and regulates the circulation of water and air within the s...

Conservation tillage reduces the physical movement of soil to the minimum required for crop establishment and production. When consistently practiced as a soil and crop management system, it greatly reduces soil erosion and is recognized for the potential to improve soil quality and water conservation and plant available water. Adoption of conservation tillage increased dramatically with the ad...

Anhydrous ammonia (AA) is a major fertilizer source in North America that can promote greater emissions of nitrous oxide (NO) than other nitrogen (N) fertilizers. Previous studies found that injection of AA at a shallow depth (0.1 m) decreased NO in a rainfed clay loam but increased NO in an irrigated loamy sand compared with the standard injection depth of 0.2 m. The objective of this study wa...