Abstract
The implementation of conservation agriculture (CA) remains crucial for facing interannual variability in climatic conditions that impact durum wheat production and food security. The current work was conducted to assess the effects of the tillage practice, previous crop, and nitrogen (N) fertilization rate on the agronomic and economic performances of rainfed durum wheat in a semi-arid environment in Tunisia. Tillage practices included no-tillage (NT) and conventional tillage (CT). Preceding crops were either a common vetch or a bread wheat. The N rates applied were: 0, 75, 100, 120, and 140 kg N ha−1. Our results show that, based on a 2-year experiment, tillage practices are not affecting grain yield, grain N, and gross margins. However, the N-use efficiency of durum wheat was significantly higher when wheat was grown using NT. Grain yield and N content in grain were 340 kg ha−1 and 0.34%; much higher after vetch than after bread wheat. For both tillage practices, the merit of 75 kg N ha−1 is paramount to maximize yield through a more efficient use of available N. Our results highlight the importance of no-tillage-based CA combined with rotation, including vetch, on enhanced yields, N-use efficiency, and gross margins. These findings provide the evidence of the positive impact of CA for rainfed durum wheat under semi-arid Mediterranean conditions.
Highlights
In Tunisia, durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.) is a strategic crop that makes up a large part of the national diet [1]
tillage practices (Tillage) × Season interaction is significant due mainly to the positive effect of NT compared to conventional tillage (CT) on the tested parameters during the 2014–2015 growing season where climatic conditions were less favourable
The current study demonstrated that nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) was significantly affected by N fertilizer rate, tillage practices, and previous crop
Summary
In Tunisia, durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.) is a strategic crop that makes up a large part of the national diet [1]. Durum wheat production represents more than 50% of the whole cereal land surface and meets about 70% of annual national demand [2]. Durum wheat productivity is highly variable from year to year, closely linked to the variability and distribution of annual precipitation. Agronomy 2020, 10, 1161 during the growing season [3] This interannual variability is expected to be accentuated by climate change according to several projections [4]. Conservation agriculture (CA) has been proposed as an adapted set of crop management principles that assures a more sustainable agricultural production, reduces soil degradation, and contributes to making agricultural systems more resilient to climate change [5]. CA covers an area of 14,000 ha, mainly for cereals, performed by almost
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