Abstract
Air porosity of soil can be altered by tillage. Therefore, it plays a significant role in protecting plants against deficient aeration during critical periods of their life cycle. The effect of five tillage treatments (mouldboard, cultivator, rotary tiller, wedge and zero tillage) and three mulch treatments (paddy straw, rice husk and bare) on the soil oxygen diffusion rate (ODR) during the various growth phases of peanut crop (Arachis Hypogaea L.) were investigated on a lateritic sandy loam soil (utilsol). These experiments were conducted for two consecutive seasons. ODR values were higher in tilled plots. Among tillage treatments, the highest ODR was recorded under mouldboard (60.51 x 10 -8 g cm -2 mm -1 ), followed closely by cultivator (57.65 x 10 -8 g cm -2 min -1 ), and it was lowest under rotary tiller (46.29 x 10 -8 g cm -2 min -1 ). During the later growth stages and also in lower soil depths, the differences between the values of ODR narrowed down. Among mulch treatments, plots with rice husk (53.98 x 10 -8 g cm -2 min -1 ), had the higher ODR values. Bulk density was lower, whereas total and aeration porosity were higher, under mouldboard and cultivator. Soil temperatures were also higher under mouldboard and cultivator tilled plots.
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