Abstract
The amount of water captured and stored in the soil profile until the next precipitation events is of great importance in dryland agro-ecosystem for successful crop production. The soil’s ability to rapidly capture and store water precipitation can be accessed through measuring soil sorptivity. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the effects of tillage, i.e. reduced and conventional tillages, on soil sorptivity, and to understand how sorptivity is related to surface soil bulk density and water stable aggregates. The experiment was conducted on a site, which has been continuously planted with corn twice a year for more than 10 years. The predominant soil in the study site is Typic Haplusteps. Ponded infiltration measurements were used to determine soil sorptivity. Six positions, 15 meters a part, were chosen within each treatment to measure sorptivity, bulk density and water stable aggregates. Conventional tillage resulted in higher sorptivity (p<0.05), lower surface bulk density (p<0.05), and significantly lower water stable aggregates (p<0.01) than reduced tillage treatment. Sorptivity was negatively correlated to bulk density and positively correlated to water stable aggregates. Better correlations were found between sorptivity and both bulk density (R2 = 0.67) and water stable aggregates (R2= 0.81) under reduced tillage than under conventional tillage treatment. Conventional tillage was found to enhance soil sorptivity in comparison to reduced tillage system. Appropriate soil management is important to maintain proper soil porosity in the field for better rainfall harvesting and plant growth especially in the dryland ecosystem.
Highlights
Determination of rice fertilizer dosage recommendations at the national level is considered to be no longer relevant as guidelines for fertilizing rice fields in several regions in Indonesia (Adnyana.2011)
The diversity of soil fertility conditions and site specific environment in some areas, causing the need for balanced fertilization based on site specific conditions and the fertilizer recommendation given is not to be the same in every region (Suryana 2004; Haefele et al 2010).In some areas of intensification, frequent fertilization lead to the imbalance of nutrients in the soil, damaged to soil properties, environmental pollution and lost of farmer profits (Xu et al 2009; Pampolino et al 2012)
Based on the results of Site-specific nutrient management (SSNM) fertilizer recommendations through that internet access, the fertilization period was applied in three times, i.e. in the early period (0-14 days after planting), active tillering, and at the time of primordia (Table 1)
Summary
Determination of rice fertilizer dosage recommendations at the national level is considered to be no longer relevant as guidelines for fertilizing rice fields in several regions in Indonesia (Adnyana.2011). Excessive fertilization which was not appropriate in dosage, time, and way could cause the plants grow unoptimally, either because of nutrient deficiencies or. Recommended dose of fertilizer for rice is influenced by various factors such as the kind of the test method, the carrying capacity of the land, and the crop needs on various nutrients (Setyorini et al 2006). The site specific nutrient management (SSNM) fertilization is a soil nutrient balance-based fertilization technology which uses a rational, efficient fertilization based on the plant needs and according to their variation in time and space (Dobermann 2003; Dobermann et al.2004; Pasuquin et al 2014).
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