Abstract
This study investigated the impact of soil compaction owing to cotton picker traffic, and the impact of this compaction on cotton yield on a row-by-row basis across the field under both random traffic farming (RTF) and controlled traffic farming (CTF) systems. Measurements of soil water content, dry bulk density and soil penetration resistance were taken and compared with a depth of 80 cm both before and after traffic. It was found that the traffic of JD7760 round-bale cotton picker caused significant compaction in cotton rows and furrows located between, adjacent to, and in wheel tracks under both RTF and CTF systems, particularly for the top 30-cm depth. Because of the soil compaction, the yield was more significantly reduced (7~10% by the machine-pick method) in the rows between the dual-wheel than in those adjacent to the wheel track. Adopting CTF reduces the area of soil compaction and ensures the maintenance of soil characteristics of the cultivated portions of the farm, hence enhancing cotton yield.
Highlights
Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) is an important industrial crop of considerable economic value in many countries
This study aimed to investigate soil compaction owing to the JD7760 cotton picker and its influence on individual cotton rows under random traffic farming (RTF) and controlled traffic farming (CTF) systems
The industry-standard farming system is random traffic farming (1.0-m row spacing), which has been in operation at Undabri since 2012 and is harvested by the JD7760 standard configuration, while CTF with 1.5-m row spacing was adopted at Yambacully in 2015 and the harvest was picked with the CTF7760 modified harvester
Summary
Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) is an important industrial crop of considerable economic value in many countries. The major cotton producers in the world include China, the USA, India, Pakistan and Brazil. They together contribute ~75% of global production (Yadav et al 2018). Cotton performs well on Vertosols, earning the worldwide title ‘Black Cotton Soil’ (Ahmad 1983; Oza and Gundaliya 2013). This reputation is due to cotton’s vertical root system, which is not significantly damaged by the cracking of the Vertosols (IUSS Working Group WRB 2015). Vertosols make up ~75% of the soils under cotton production in Australia (McKenzie et al 2003). With just one pass of heavy machinery, significant compaction reaching deep into subsurface layers can occur (Bennett et al 2019)
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