Subsoil compaction can result in unfavourable soil physical conditions and hinder the root growth of maize. The effects of deep tillage and conventional tillage on soil physical properties and root growth of maize were studied during 2010–2011 at two sites (loam at Hebi and clay at Luohe) in central China. The results showed that soil penetration resistance, bulk density, water content and root...

A field study was conducted to assess the effects of soil tillage practices and straw management on soil CO2, and yield-scaled CO2 emissions in a rain-fed summer corn field on the Loess Plateau. Tillage treatments consisted of sub-soiling tillage (CP), no tillage (NT) and moldboard plow tillage (CT). Wheat straw was removed from half of the CP, NT and CT plots after harvest, allowing us to test...

In rice (Oryza sativa L.) culture the effect of puddling (wet tillage) on puddle quality, weed growth and yield of crop depends upon initial soil manipulations by pre-puddling tillage. However, the role of pre-puddling tillage on these aspects has not been studied adequately. These effects were studied for three years (1994±1996) in a ®eld experiment with a rice±wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cro...

In this study, a fixed-site field experiment was conducted to study the influence of different combinations of tillage and straw incorporation management on carbon storage in different-sized soil aggregates and on crop yield after three years of rice-wheat rotation. Compared to conventional tillage, the percentages of >2 mm macroaggregates and water-stable macroaggregates in rice-wheat double-c...

Organic farming has been identified as promoting soil quality even though tillage is used for weed suppression. Adopting zero tillage and other conservation tillage practices can enhance soil quality in cropping systems where synthetic agri-chemicals are relied on for crop nutrition and weed control. Attempts have been made to eliminate tillage completely when growing several field crops organi...

Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.r. latifolium Hutch) is very sensitive to soil conditions. The Iuiu Valley, located in the Southwest of Bahia State in Brazil, was an important area for cotton production but an inadequate soil management for years and consequent soil quality degradation lead to the decline of the crop in the region. In an effort to reestablish cotton, this study was carried out to ...

The experiments were conducted at Green Acres Agronomy farm near Gainesville, Florida, on an Arredondo loamy sand, a member of the loamy, silicious, hyperthermic family of grossarenic Paleudults. The field study started in 1976 included cropping systems of oat (Avena sativa)/soybean (Glycine max L. Merr.) versus oat/grain sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.) that were split plots of four tillage treatm...

tillage usually has been found to increase b compared with moldboard and chisel plow (Kitur et al., 1993; Lal, Tillage impacts on soil properties differ among soils. This study 1999). Bulk density usually is lowest immediately after investigated tillage, cropping, and wheel traffic (WT) effects of 13-yr of no-tillage (NT), chisel plow (CP), and moldboard plow (MP) under tillage and increases wi...

Improper tillage with no manure may cause a range of undesirable processes (destruction of soil structure, accelerate erosion, depletion of organic matter and fertility). A field experiment was conducted to observe the change in soil properties after incorporation of green manure crops and to find out the residual effect of green manure crops along with tillage on maize and rice yields during 2...

Although it is common to alternate between till and no-till practices, past research has considered farmers’ tillage options to be limited to the dichotomous choice of whether or not to switch to a long-term no-till regime. This paper expands farmers’ options and models their choices of tillage frequency. Less frequent tilling sequesters more carbon but permits a greater accumulation of weeds, ...