Abstract
High-yielding agriculture in an intensive rice–wheat rotation system leads to plenty of residues left in the field after harvest, which is detrimental to seeding operation, seed germination, and early plant growth. Some residue thus needs to be incorporated into the soil. Providing the relationship between tillage operations and residue incorporation and establishing a mathematical model play important roles in residue management and the design of tillage machinery. In order to obtain detailed data on the interaction between residue incorporation and tillage operations, a multifunctional field-testing bench with precise parameter control was developed to assess residue incorporation characteristics of rotary tillage, and we investigated the effects of straw length, stubble height and rotary speed on residue incorporation. Three experimental factors affecting residue incorporation performance were studied, i.e., six lengths of straw (30–150 mm), four heights of stubble (50–200 mm), and three rotary speeds (240–320 rpm). Chopped straw and stubble with certain sizes were prepared for the test, and we measured the burying rate and distribution uniformity of residue after rotary tillage. The results indicated that straw length, stubble height, and rotary speed all impact residue incorporation quality. The burying rate and distribution uniformity of residue decreased with the increase in straw length and stubble height; a lower rotary speed parameter buried less residue and distributed it with worse uniformity than a higher one. It is suggested that farmers determine the straw length and stubble height at the stage of harvest according to the required burying rate and distribution uniformity of residue.
Highlights
Over recent decades, threatened food security due to rapid worldwide population growth has led to efforts in increasing agricultural food production [1,2]
Multiple that most of the residue be buried in the soil by rotary tillage in the length of comparisons were madecould to assess the difference among various treatments basedrange on the strawsignificant from 30 todifference
The results indicate that proportion of residue in the middle layer (ML) and lower layer (LL) increased with the increasing rotary speed
Summary
Over recent decades, threatened food security due to rapid worldwide population growth has led to efforts in increasing agricultural food production [1,2]. Highyielding agriculture leads to plenty of crop residues being left in the field after harvest, which is detrimental to seeding operation, seed germination, and early plant growth [3,4,5,6]. Agricultural producers have been seeking suitable tillage operations to alleviate the problems of excessive crop residues. Crop residues are an important renewable biological resource since they provide organic material and nutrients required to improve soil health [7,8,9]. Crop residues are treated by burning, causing environmental pollution and squandering biological resources. Residues incorporated into the soil by tillage practices can increase soil organic matter and fertility, improve soil pore structure and promote crop growth [10,11,12,13,14,15]. The rate and degree of organic matter accumulation with residues’ incorporation vary widely due to differences in residue distribution position, soil type, and climate [16,17]
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