Conservation tillage combined with cover crops or mulching may enhance natural enemy activity in agroecosystems by reducing soil disturbance and increasing habitat structural complexity. In particular, weed seed predation can increase with vegetation cover and reduced tillage, indicating that mulches may improve the quality of the habitat for weed seed foraging. The purpose of this study was to...

Syringopais temperatella Led. (Lep., Scythrididae) is a serious threat of barley and wheat in Jordan as it causes great loss crop. There growing interest the development innovative control strategies aiming to minimize environmental impact pest management improve safety agro-food chain. However, little attention has been paid on use cultural methods against pest, accordingly, this study aimed a...

1831 Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 72:1831-1837 doi:10.2136/sssaj2007.0423 Received 11 Dec. 2007. *Corresponding author ([email protected]). © Soil Science Society of America 677 S. Segoe Rd. Madison WI 53711 USA All rights reserved. No part of this periodical may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any informa...

No-tillage cultivation offers significant advantages over con­ ventional tillage in terms of water, energy, and particularly soil conservation (Francis et al., 1987). However, continuous no-tillage farming on sandy Ultisols may lead to high bulk density that has a pronounced effect on soil strength due to traffic compaction and lack of plowing (NeSmith et al., 1987). This increase in soil stren...

Soil thermal conductivity determines how a soil warms or cools with exchange of energy by conduction, convection, and radiation. The ability to monitor soil thermal conductivity is an important tool in managing the soil temperature regime to affect seed germination and crop growth. In this study, the temperature-by-time data was obtained using a single probe device to determine the soil thermal...

Two field experiments were conducted for two years with the aim of studying the effects of deep tillage and straw returning on soil microorganism and enzyme activity in clay and loam soil. Three treatments, (1) conventional tillage (CT), shallow tillage and straw returning; (2) deep tillage (DT), deep tillage and straw returning; and (3) deep tillage with no straw returning (DNT), were carried ...

Effect of haying (hayed or not hayed prior to tillage), tillage (notillage, minimum tillage, or conventional tillage), and N fertilization (0 or 67 kg ha ') on surface infiltration rates, Q(h), was evaluated for Conservation Research Program (CRP) site conversion. Soils included Amor loam (fine-loamy, mixed, superactive, frigid Typic Haplustoll) and Cabba silt loam (loamy, mixed, superactive, c...

seed germination, is a new alternative to no-till in areas where poorly drained soils are dominant. Where soil moisture conditions are suitable, strip-tillage creates narrow-width tilled strips, traditionally in the fall, to increase early spring soil evaporation and soil temperature in the top 2 inches. This is particularly effective in poorly drained wet soils, where slightly raised soil stri...