Search

A field study was conducted to evaluate moisture storage in soil profile under four tillage-residue management practices namely conventional tillage, no-tillage without residue, no-tillage with residue and deep tillage along with three irrigation regime based on IW/PAN-E ratio 1.2, 0.9 and 0.6 in maize with three replications in split plot design. Significant differences were observed in steady state infiltration rate and cumulative infiltration among different land management practices with maximum value in deep tillage (4.9 cm hr-1 and 33.1 cm) followed by no tillage with residue (4.1cm hr-1 and 28.6 cm), no tillage without residue (4.0 cm hr-1 and 23.0 cm) and conventional tillage (2.8 cm hr-1 and 19.4 cm), respectively. The highest mean weight diameter and water stable aggregates were found under no tillage with residue (0.64 mm and 49.7%) and lowest under deep tillage (0.3 mm and 21.8%), respectively. Higher volumetric soil water content and soil profile moisture storage were recorded under no tillage with residue at different days after sowing. Among different tillage-residue management practices, maximum leaf area index and relative leaf water content were observed in no-tillage with residue. Under moisture stress conditions, no-tillage with residue retention was suitable land management option for reducing evaporation losses and enhancing moisture storage in the soil profile. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Decline in soil physical health and crop productivity are the major concerns in wheat-maize cropping system of northwest India. Depending on objective, conservation and deep tillage are the potential solutions. Therefore, a field study was conducted to investigate the interactive effects of land management practices and irrigation regimes on soil properties and wheat-maize productivity. The tillage treatments comprised of no-tillage, strip tillage, conventional tillage and deep tillage, while the irrigation regimes included three levels based on irrigation water over pan evaporation (IW/PAN-E) ratios i.e. I0.6, I0.9 and I1.2 for both wheat and maize crops. By shattering soil up to 45 cm depth, the deep tillage helped in improving infiltration rate by 31% over conventional tillage. However, the no-tillage improved soil aggregation by 38% than deep tillage. At subsurface depth (15-30 cm) the soil bulk density and penetration resistance were found to be significantly lower under deep tillage (1.52 Mg m-3 and 1.9 MPa) than conventional tillage (1.68 Mg m-3 and 2.8 MPa), respectively. The deep tillage enhanced root proliferation by increasing root length density by 44% and 34% than conventional tillage in maize and wheat, respectively. The grain yields (Mg ha-1) of maize and wheat were 14% and 12% more under deep tillage than conventional tillage, respectively. The water productivity varied significantly under different irrigation regimes and was found to be highest at I0.9 in maize and I1.2 in wheat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]