Abstract
The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of conventional tillage with straw removed (T), no tillage with straw removed (NT), no tillage with straw retained on the soil surface (NTS) and conventional tillage with straw incorporated (TS) on soil moisture, root growth and straw yield under rain-fed conditions. Findings of this research show that NTS and to a lesser extent, TS decreased soil bulk density in the 0-10 cm soil depth by approximately 3.35% and 2.75% compared to T and NT in spring wheat and field pea plots respectively. No tillage with straw retained (NTS) had greater soil moisture content (0-30 cm) at jointing, anthesis and milking stages compared with NT and T treatments with average 18.57% and 29.67% increase (P < 0.05) in spring wheat and field pea respectively. Compared with T and NT, root length, root surface area, root diameter and root volume at 0-50 cm soil depth under straw treated soils, especially with no tillage were significantly increased. Root length, surface area and root diameter in the 0-80 cm differed among the treatments in the order of NTS > TS > NT > T at all the sampling stages in both crops. No tillage with straw retention had the greatest straw yield of 4897 kg ha-1 in spring wheat and 2759 kg ha-1 in field pea, representing a significant increase of 20.61% and 22.74% compared to NT and T respectively. These results suggest that NTS could enhance spring wheat and field pea yield and water uptake via stimulating root growth, and therefore a practical way to improve crop productivity.
Highlights
The adoption of conservation agriculture principles as part of a change in management system has been reported to increase crop productivity and water conservation (Huang et al, 2008; Yeboah et al, 2016)
The result was clear that, the soil moisture content was higher on straw amended plots and the moisture content generally decreased with increasing plant growth
The findings of this study showed that no tillage with straw retention significantly decreased soil bulk density and boosted soil moisture content compared to conventional tillage with straw removed and no tillage with straw removed at the top soil depth (0-30 cm), and significantly affected the root length, root surface area, root diameter and root volume through the 0-50 cm soil profile
Summary
The adoption of conservation agriculture principles as part of a change in management system has been reported to increase crop productivity and water conservation (Huang et al, 2008; Yeboah et al, 2016). It is claimed that conservation tillage can serve as an important management strategy offering many benefits like increasing organic matter content (Yeboah et al, 2016) and soil moisture (Hobbs, 2008) compared to tilled soils. Root development and distribution in the soil profile are of great importance for water and nutrient uptake for plants. Soil moisture and nutrient availability affect root growth, which has a significant impact on the spatial distribution of root systems (Smith et al, 2012). Some of the practices such as tillage affect root development and function, which by far is the most important component in crop growth (Mosaddeghi et al, 2009). As with impact of tillage on root distribution, no-tillage causes greater and deeper water accumulation in the soil profile and greater root growth (Lampurlanés et al, 2001). Root growth in the subsoil can be affected by tillage (Mosaddeghi et al, 2009), jas.ccsenet.org
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