Abstract
Soil water conservation through tillage is widely accepted as one of the appropriate ways of addressing soil moisture constraints in rainfed agriculture. A field experiment was conducted for 6 seasons (2007 to 2009) to evaluate the effects of 3 tillage practices namely ox-plough (OP), subsoiling-ripping (SR) and tied-ridge (TR) on soil physical and hydro-physical properties of a sandy loam soil. Soil surface roughness, bulk density (BD), total porosity, crust strength, saturated hydraulic conductivity, steady infiltration rates and soil water storage were evaluated. Results showed that, mean inter-row BD (1.51 Mg m-3) and crust strength (3.05 MPa) with SR tillage were 7 and 15% greater (P ≤ 0.05) than with OP, respectively. Inter-row infiltration rates for OP (7.9 cm h-1) were more than two fold greater than for SR (3.6 cm h-1) and TR (3.3 cm h-1). Soil surface roughness with TR was significantly greater than with OP and SR tillage systems. Soil water storage for TR (222 mm) exceeded (P ≤ 0.05) that for OP and SR by 30 mm (16%) and 32 mm (17%), respectively. This study concluded that, ripping soil along planting line that are prone to surface crusting without disturbing the soil between crop rows was not effective as a conservation tillage method. Key words: Tillage, soil physical properties, soil water conservation, sandy loam soil, infiltration rate.
Highlights
Agricultural production in the arid and semi-arid areas of Kenya is highly dependent on rainfall because water for irrigation is scarce or farmers cannot afford the technology
Initial total porosity was greatest for OP (49%) and least for SR (44%) with significant (P ≤ 0.05) differences among the tillage systems
Subsoiling-ripping tillage system conserved lesser soil water compared to OP tillage system because of the unfavorable soil surface hydraulic conditions that developed between the crop rows under the SR tillage
Summary
Agricultural production in the arid and semi-arid areas of Kenya is highly dependent on rainfall because water for irrigation is scarce or farmers cannot afford the technology. In order to have successful rainfed crop production in these areas, rain water conservation is essential (Barron et al, 2003). The success of on-farm soil water conservation depends upon many soil factors such as soil bulk density (BD), porosity, soil surface sealing and crusting, surface roughness, hardpans, hydraulic conductivity, and infiltration rates as they determine the hydrological properties of soil (Strudley et al, 2008). Soil surface roughness (configuration) influences wind and water erosion by decreasing soil detachment and transport caused by erosion (Cogo et al, 1983). Soil surface roughness can change considerably with rain, wind and soil cultivation events (Guzha, 2004).
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