A field study was established in the fall of 1993 on Tunica clay soil to evaluate the response of cotton to profile modification tillage relative to more conventional types of tillage for clay soil. Ten treatments were replicated four times usingplots 15 m wide× 30.5 m long in a wide-bed controlled-traffic production system. Annual tillage treatments included bedding, disking, chiseling, subsoiling, and profile modification to depths of 25 cm, 50 cm, and 76 cm. Treatments to evaluate theresidual effects of tillage were also included for the 25 cm, 50 cm and 76 cm depths of profile modification. Results indicated that soil profile modification generally increased plant height, vegetative dry mass and seed cotton yield compared toconventional tillage practices. In the modified profile treatments, crop response increased as depth of modification increased. The residual effect of soil profile modification at the 76 cm depth was as effective in increasing seed cotton yield as annualprofile modification after three years. Soil profile modification produced a positive response in cotton production but the time required to perform the tillage was excessive.
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