Influenced of various tillage practices on selected physical properties of sandy loam soil under rainfed area.

摘要

The research study was conducted with the objectives to evaluate the effect of various tillage practices on selected soil parameters including soil moisture content, bulk density and soil strength of sandy loam soil under rainfed condition during the wheat and chickpea growing seasons (2002-05). Five tillage treatments: No Till (NT); Chisel Plough once and Tine Type Cultivator twice (CPTC2); Mouldboard Plough once and Tine type cultivator twice (MBTC2); Disk Harrow once and Tine Type Cultivator twice (DHTC2); and Tine Type Cultivator 3 times (TC3) were used in the study. The experiment was laid out in randomized complete block design (RCBD) with five treatments and four replications. The results showed that tillage treatments had significant effects on soil moisture content, bulk density and soil strength at 0-30 and 31-60 cm depths during the wheat-chickpea rotation growing seasons. By comparing soil moisture content at 0-30 and 31-60 cm depths during three consecutive years (2002-05) of wheat-chickpea rotations, it was noted that the mean higher soil moisture content of 10.54 and 10.90% were found in deep tillage treatment (CHTC2 and MBTC2) and the lower soil moisture content of 8.57 and 8.85% was recorded in No till, followed by tillage treatment TC3 (8.77 and 9.14%) respectively. By comparing, bulk density at 0-30 and 31-60 cm depths, the mean minimum bulk density of 1.39 and 1.44 g cm-3 were found in deep tillage plots (i.e. CHTC2 and MBTC2) and the higher bulk density of 1.46 and 1.47 g cm-3 was recorded in No till, followed by tine type cultivator 1.43 g cm-3 and 1.47 g cm-3 respectively. Similarly soil strength at 0-30 cm depth, mean least soil strength of 527 N cm-2 was found in plots plowed by mouldboard plough, followed by 548 N cm-2 in chisel plough plots, while the highest soil strength of 624 N cm-2 was observed in the No-till plots. At 31-60 cm depth, tillage treatment of chisel plough or mouldboard plough resulted lowest value of 653.50 and 662.50 N cm-2 soil strength up to their plowing depth respectively, and in the No till treatments resulted highest value of 711 N cm-2. On an average, field prepared by chisel plough once and tine type cultivator twice (CHTC2) and mouldboard plough once and tine type cultivator twice (MBTC2) were resulted higher soil moisture content, lower bulk density and soil strength as compared to No Till and shallow tillage treatments on sandy loam type of soil during wheat-chickpea rotation under rainfed condition..