Inversion turns the tables on soil constraints

摘要

In the age of no-till cropping, innovative trials investigating soil inversion are providing a range of agronomic benefits across Western Australia's challenging deep sandy-textured soils. According to trials carried out in the northern agricultural region (NAR) of Western Australia, one-off inversion of sandplain soils can result in significant improvements in crop productivity through reduced compaction, increased water infiltration and control of herbicide-resistant weeds. Dr Stephen Davies, Department of Agriculture and Food, WA explains that deep sandy-textured soils often have substantial constraints to productivity in medium- to high-rainfall areas. "During the past three years we have been working with growers in the NAR to examine the agronomic and productivity benefits derived from one-off inversion of sandplain soils using mouldboard ploughs or partial-inversion using rotary spaders," Dr Davies said.