Abstract
We investigated the changes in soil physical properties, such as soil cone index (SCI), soil bulk density (SBD) and soil water content (SWC) in upland rice (Oryza sativa L.) production following rye (Secale cereale L.), hairy vetch (Vicia villosa Roth) and fallow (no cover crop) under different tillage systems (plowing, rotary and minimum tillage) with 4 replications. Field experiments were conducted at the Experimental Farm of Ibaraki University on a Humic Allophane soil (Haplic Andsolos) from Aug. 2002 to Dec. 2004. The main results obtained from these 2 years of field research were as follows:1) The tillage system significantly affected soil water content, with minimum tillage having the greatest effect. Cover crop types also showed significant effects on soil water content, especially for minimum tillage with rye treatment.2) The tillage system also had a significant effect on soil bulk density, with minimum tillage having the greatest compare with other tillage treatment. Cover crop types, however, showed little effect on soil bulk density.3) The tillage system also affected soil hard-ness significantly during the dry paddy rice growing season. SCI was the highest for no. -till treatment, and the lowest for plow tillage treatment. With all the tillage systems, cover crop types also showed significant effects on reducing SCI. SCI showed the lowest value for rye and the highest for fallow.4) These results suggest that cover cropping has some potential for reducing soil hardness without tillage treatment; consequently, cover crops may be effective tools to optimize soil hard-ness in minimum tillage systems.
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