Maize growth responses to deep tillage, straw mulching and farmyard manure in coarse textured soils of N.W. India

Autor: M.R. Chaudhary, V.K. Arora, P.R. Gajri
Rok vydání: 1994
Předmět:
Zdroj: Soil Use and Management. 10:15-19
ISSN: 1475-2743
0266-0032
DOI: 10.1111/j.1475-2743.1994.tb00451.x
Popis: The effects of deep tillage, straw mulching and farmyard manure on maize growth in loamy sand and sandy loam soils were studied in experiments lasting three years. Treatments included all combinations of conventional tillage (10 cm deep) and deep tillage (35–40 cm deep), two farmyard manure rates (0 and 15 t/ha) and two mulch rates (0 and 6 t/ha), replicated three times in a randomixed block design. Deep tillage decreased soil strength and caused deeper and denser rooting. Mulching decreased maximum soil temperature and kept the surface layers wetter resulting in better root growth. Farmyard manure also improved root growth, and the crop then extracted soil water more efficiently. All three treatments increased grain yield in the loamy sand, but in the sandy loam only tillage and farmyard manure increased yields significantly. Deep tillage and straw mulch effects varied with soil type and amount of rainfall in the growing season. In the loamy sand the mean responses to deep tillage and mulching were largest in a dry year. A tillage-mulch interaction was significant in the loamy sand.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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