• Use of Berken plow and intercropping with pigeon pea improves soil characteristics. Root penetration resistance increased maize roots penetrating 1.2–1.5 times deeper. had the greatest available storage 56 cm smallest runoff in both years. Increases infiltration resulted moisture retention up to 60 depth. productivity a positive net benefit. Closing yield gap enhancing efficiency rainfed prod...

Increased global temperatures resulting from anthropogenically induced climate changes have increased the frequency and severity of adverse weather events, including extreme rainfall floods, droughts. In recent years, nature-based solutions (NBS) been proposed to retain storm runoff temporarily mitigate flood damages. These practices may help rural farm forest lands store reduce flooding on far...

In Italy, there has been a significant increase of the areas cultivated with short-rotation forestry (SRF) poplar (Populus spp.) for the production of lignocellulosic biomass. This species has been generally introduced on soils managed with conventional farming practices that led to the formation of a hardpan. This constitutes a serious obstacle for root development and water availability, whic...

Soil compaction is an important physical limiting factor for the root growth and plant emergence and is one of the major causes for reduced crop yield worldwide. The objective of this study was to generate 2D/3D soil compaction maps for different depth layers of the soil. To do so, a soil penetrometer was designed, which was mounted on the three-point hitch of an agricultural tractor, consistin...

Downward redistribution of soil water through plant roots has important consequences for water and nutrient balance of arid and semi-arid ecosystems. Nevertheless, information on the seasonal patterns and magnitudes of redistribution is lacking for all but a few plant species. We measured sap flow in the taproot and three main lateral roots of a 10-year-old Juglans major Torr. tree, on an ephem...

in conventional tillage systems, uniform depth tillage is applied over the entire field; however, the depth of hardpan layer varies greatly within the field. site-specific tillage, which modifies physical properties of soil only where the tillage is needed for crop growth, could achieve significant savings in fuel consumption and drawbar power requirements. site-specific tillage can be implemen...

Abstract Spatial and depth variability of soil characteristics greatly influence its optimum utilization management. Concealing nature subsurface horizons has made the traditional investigations which rely on point information less reliable. In this study, an alternative use ground penetrating radar (GPR)—a near-surface geophysical survey method—was tested to address shortcomings. The focus stu...