No-till, ridge-till, and conventional tillage cotton effects on soil organic matter and PH

摘要

Conservation tillage can reduce wind and water erosion while increasing water infiltration rates of soil. There is currently very little information on the effects of tillage in sub-tropical semi-arid environments on soil organic matter, pH, cation exchange capacity, or plant nutrient cycling within the rooting profile. Objectives of this study wer 1) to determine the effect of no-tillage, ridge-tillage, conventional moldboard tillage systems on soil organic matter content, soil pH, sodium, potassium, magnesium, calcium, and cation exchange capacity (CEC), and 2) provide farmers with guidelines and information for implementing conservation tillage. After only six years the organic matter of the top 5 cm soil was almost doubled with no-tillage (1.16percent-vs-0.60percent) compared with conventional moldboard tillage in a semi-arid, subtropical South Texas environment. Tillage was found to have little effect on soil pH, sodium, magensium, calcium, or cation exchange capacity, but no-tillage and ridge-till did have greater concentrations of potassium near the surface (0-5 cm layer) than the conventional moldboard tillage treatment (906-vs-681 ppm). The plant nutrient medium within the top one meter was affected by tillage.