Deep cultivation of a sandy clay loam I. Effects on growth, yield and nutrient content of potatoes, broad beans, summer cabbage and red beet in 1977

Abstract

The Wye Double Digger is a deep cultivation implement consisting of a single-furrow plough working to 23 cm depth, and a rotavator loosening the soil below the furrow bottom exposed by the previous pass to a depth of 45 cm below the soil surface. When all the fertilizer was applied at the soil surface deep cultivation increased the dry matter production of potatoes ( Solanum tuberosum), broad beans ( Vicia faba var. major), summer cabbage ( Brassica oleracea var. capitata) and red beet ( Beta vulgaris var. rapacea f. rubra) by 13, 12, 30 and 26%, respectively, over that obtained by conventional ploughing to 23 cm depth. When half of the fertilizer was incorporated into the subsoil the corresponding increases were 21, 17, 17 and 13%. Following deep cultivation crops extracted more N, P and K but there was little change in the concentration of these elements in the plant dry matter. The present limited information suggests that deep cultivation might be beneficial in more situations than the experiment reported here.