Winter wheat and soybean zinc uptake in different soil tillage systems

Abstract

Winter wheat and soybean were grown under field conditions on chernozem soil of Knezevo, Croatia, for four years (from 2002 to 2005) in three applied soil tillage treatments: a) CT — conventional soil tillage, based on mouldboard ploughing, b) DH — soil tillage based on diskharrowing instead of ploughing; and c) NT — no-tillage. Both crops showed decreasing concentration of Zn within the plant tissue as a result of the soil tillage reduction in the order CT>DH>NT, presumably due to the limited roots growth in lesser disturbed soil at DHand NT treatments. Winter wheat recorded generally lower than optimal Zn concentrations and higher P:Zn ratios at reduced soil tillage treatments, as a result of lower Zn uptake. The recommendation for the winter wheat production by reduced soil tillage is additional Zn fertilization, whose exact amounts and way of application shall follow further research.