Effect of tillage practices on resource conservation, yield and nitrogen uptake by rainfed forage pearl millet in terraced land of Yamuna ravines.

摘要

A field experiment was conducted at a research farm of CSWCRTI, Research Centre, Chhalesar, Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India, during 1998 to 2006-07 to investigate the effect of different tillage practices on resource conservation, forage yield and nitrogen uptake by pearl millet under rainfed condition in terraced Yamuna ravines. The tillage treatments imposed were: (T1) zero tillage (only a furrow for sowing) (ZT); (T2) wedge-plough twice every year at 7 cm depth (farmers' practice, WP); (T3) cultivator twice every year at 10 cm depth (farmers' practice, CT); (T4) mouldboard once in three years followed by cultivator once every year at 15 cm depth (MB); and (T5) disc plough once in three years followed by cultivator once every year at 20 cm depth (deep tillage, DP). Deep tillage once in 3 years followed by one pass of cultivator every year was found superior over other treatments. Zero tillage completely failed to enhance rainwater conservation resulting to higher runoff losses. Deep tillage improved the soil environment, enhanced profile water storage by reducing runoff and improving N uptake. Significantly higher green fodder yield with deep tillage (20 cm) was recorded with 74 and 48% more yields over zero tillage and farmers' practice, i.e., cultivator twice every year, respectively.