Effect of tillage and residue management on barley and canola growth and water use efficiency

Abstract

Residue management and tillage are used to reduce the effect of water deficit or excess on crop production in northwestern Canada. This study was conducted on Donnelly silt loam and sandy loam soils (both Gray Luvisols) to evaluate the effects of conventional tillage (CT), no-tillage (NT) and modified NT (MNT, i.e., NT with 75-mm wide residue-free strip over the planting row) on barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) and canola (Brassica campestris L.) dry matter accumulation and grain production, water depletion and water use efficiency (WUE) in 1992 and 1993. Infiltration rates (Ic), soil water content, plant dry matter and grain yields were measured. The Ic of the two soils was greater than the rainfall rate (Rr) in both years, suggesting that there was no runoff. In 1992, a dry year, barley grain yields were significantly greater by 16% on the silt loam and by 17% on the sandy loam under MNT as compared with CT. The MNT increased barley grain yield by 3% compared with NT on the silt loam and increased canola grain yield by 12% on the sandy loam soil in 1993, which was a wet year. Dry matter accumulation and grain yield of barley in CT were adversely affected by a prolonged early dry period in 1992. Abundant rainfall slowed barley and canola growth and depressed yield in the NT in 1993. From seeding to harvest in 1992, WUE for barley grain production on the silt loam was greater by 21% in the NT and by 18% in the MNT as compared with the CT, which had a WUE of 5.25 kg ha−1 mm−1; it was greater by 19% in the NT and by 10% in the MNT compared with the CT on the sandy loam soil with a WUE of 5.07 kg ha−1 mm−1. In 1993, NT and MNT had lower WUE, which coincided with lower grain yield as compared with CT. Key words: Infiltration, water depletion, drying rate and drainage